Snow enforcement lax, but that could change

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If you're a bit on the lazy side when it comes to shoveling snow and ice from your sidewalks, well, enjoy it this winter.

Next year might be another story.

So says Gerald Checco, director of Cincinnati Public Services, who acknowledged that while sidewalk shoveling technically is the responsibility of individual homeowners, there isn't much enforcement behind an ordinance that calls for up to a $25 fine for those who do not clear their walkways.

"Until this year, we have not had the resources to deal with this," Checco said Monday. "This issue is a very difficult one for the city."

Here's why: The Ohio Supreme Court ruled in 1993 that homeowners here have no "common-law duty to remove or make less hazardous a natural accumulation of ice and snow on private sidewalks or walkways on the homeowner's premises."

That means that if someone slips and falls because a homeowner didn't bother to shovel the show, it's typically not considered the homeowner's fault. Rather, the case (Brinkman v. Ross) determined that people walking in winter are walking at their own risk. For the record, this is true even if you've shoveled once and it has frozen again, contrary to area urban legend: Homeowners do not assume liability just because they've shoveled at all.

"It's up to your guests and other pedestrians to assume that due to the nature of Ohio winters, there's always a risk of a slip or fall due to the natural accumulation of ice and snow," says the Ohio Insurance Institute's website.

Cincinnati is expected to get a bit more diligent next year thanks to the impending reorganization of some city departments. Checco expects that litter enforcement officers, which currently fall under the health department's umbrella, will be assigned to public services.

That means that the five officers who spend their summers patrolling for litter-ordinance violations could spend their winters helping to ensure that snow and ice is cleared from sidewalks.

"We don't want to be unreasonable," Checco added. "The problem that we have is that people with disabilities are struggling to go place to place because of lack of clear sidewalks."

Today, though, Cincinnati ordinance mirrors others throughout the region, including many in Northern Kentucky, by requiring that property owners "timely remove snow and ice from abutting or adjoining sidewalks." Homeowners who don't comply could be fined up to $25, according to Section 723-57 of the Cincinnati Municipal Code.

Granted, it's not a hefty fee – and it's rarely enforced anyway, Checco said. Other cities aren't so lax. Take Boston, for example, which this season has ticketed more than 4,000 people for failing to shovel the feet-high piles from their sidewalks.

To hit this point home, Checco this winter posted a photo on Facebook of a woman navigating a sludge-covered street in her wheelchair. The post was shared Monday by the Cincinnati Public Services' Facebook account, along with Checco's plea to "please be a good neighbor" and clear your sidewalks.

Checco said the city has to walk a fine line between encouraging enforcement and coming down too hard on homeowners as some people don't tackle their sidewalks because they're elderly or have disabilities, too, he said.

"We don't want to be punitive," Checco said, "but when we have snow on the sidewalks and it's not being cleared, we need to deal with this."

What you're tweeting – #SnowRemoval edition:

"Did a 3-mile walk. So wish would clear the snow from the sidewalk." - @aopolitician, Feb. 26, from Cincinnati

"Who has the best boyfriend? This girl, that's who! Came home to a cleared walk & steps. Who needs flowers-I will take snow removal any day!" - @EmArtGirl, Feb. 20, from Cincinnati

"Haha do snow removal on a Friday night in negative degree weather over my dead body" - @Uncle-Borris, Feb. 20, from Cincinnati

"Fluffy snow to shovel. Please place snow on the sidewalk edge, not in the street." - @BellevueKYGovt, Feb. 18, from Bellevue, Ky.

Whom to contact

If you think a neighbor's failure to shovel has reached negligent levels, call your community's department of public services. In Cincinnati, the customer service hotline is 513-591-6000.