Title
An Ordinance to Amend Sections 4:60, 4:61 and 4:62, and to Delete Section 4:63 of Chapter 49 (Sidewalks) of Title IV of the Code of the City of Ann Arbor (Ordinance No. ORD-15-04)
Memorandum
Please see attached 10-5-15 Supplemental Memorandum.
The Pedestrian Safety and Access Task Force recommends Council adopt the attached ordinance to amend the current City Code provisions regarding requirements for removing snow from sidewalks. The ordinance amendment makes changes to, clarifies, and reorganizes, as summarized below.
The sidewalks to which both the current ordinance and the ordinance amendment apply are defined in Section 4:51(a) as "any concrete or bituminous walkway, or walkway of other materials that is designed particularly for pedestrian, bicycle, or other non-motorized travel and that is constructed (a) in a public right-of-way that contains an improved street or in an easement adjacent and parallel to a public right-of-way that contains an improved street."
Changes
In Section 4:60(2), the ordinance amendment deletes the words "greater than 1 inch" from the current version, which requires snow removal only of accumulations of "greater than 1 inch."
In Section 4:61(1), the ordinance amendment provides for one 24-hour notice per season to a property owner before Community Standards will issue a citation and have the sidewalk cleared by the City. Section 4:60(7) is added to define "season." Currently, each time Community Standards receives a complaint that a residential property owner has not removed snow from adjacent sidewalks within 24 hours after the last accumulation of snow, an officer posts a notice that gives the owner an additional 24 hours to clear the snow to avoid receiving a ticket and being charged the costs that the City incurs to remove the snow. In effect, this means each time a residential property owner fails to remove snow from his/her sidewalks within 24 hours after the most recent accumulation, removal by the Ci...
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