Bend issues no snow removal citations

Emphasis will be on education for now

As Bend residents who failed to clean their sidewalks of snow and ice enjoy the melting brought on by the relative warmth of recent days, not a single scofflaw will have to worry about being fined. coursework writing services uk.

City code requires residents and business owners to clear their sidewalks no later than six hours after snowfall ceases.

Following this month’s snow and ice storm, no one was fined for failing to follow the rules, though the city acknowledges plenty of people failed to follow the rules. cheap dissertation writing services. The same was true during last winter’s massive storm at the beginning of February.

“It’s been really terrible out there, it truly has,” said Julie Craig, a code enforcement technician. “I believe most people just don’t understand that they need to take care of it.”

Craig said the city didn’t have the resources to enforce the regulation before last winter, and since then it has focused on education.

“It’s pretty standard for us with a new program to start educating the public before issuing citations,” Craig said.

“This storm came out quicker than we were ready for, and I’ve literally been mailing out 1,200 letters to start that public education,” she said.

Craig said it’s possible residents could be cited later this winter, but she isn’t sure what it would take for someone to be fined.

“We’re re-evaluating and thinking of what the best practice will be,” Craig said. “Some jurisdictions around the country will go out and remove the snow themselves and then bill someone for the work. I would like to explore those options, but this is new and we’re focused on getting compliance first.”

Carl Backstrom, who uses a wheelchair, said he had to cancel a downtown shopping trip because of the conditions on sidewalks and accessible parking spaces. A few days later, he went back downtown to help shovel.

“I was thinking about somebody in their 70s who uses a cane,” he said. “There’d be major safety issues for someone in that situation, or for someone who uses a power chair.”

Backstrom said he’s been considering hosting a tennis camp for people in wheelchairs during the winter, but is now having second thoughts, given the conditions he’s encountered.

“If I asked people if they’d want to come given that this is what the city looks like in the winter, I don’t think it would work out,” he said.

Post Credit: The Bulletin