A pair of County Council members will introduce a scaled back snow removal plan focused on enforcing Montgomery County’s 24-hour sidewalk snow and ice removal law.
Hans Riemer (D-At large) and Nancy Navarro (D-Dist. 4) are sponsoring a bill that would put more resources toward enforcing the law that requires all private property owners to remove snow and ice from their sidewalks within 24 hours of the end of a snowstorm.
In initial discussions of the bill, Riemer had hoped for a Snow Removal Plan that would put county resources toward removing snow from bus stops, around schools, near Metro stations and other areas that saw lots of pedestrian traffic.
That effort gained little support from others on the Council. The cost of snow removal and storm cleanup on Montgomery County’s 5,200 lane miles this winter was about $25 million before a March 17 snowstorm. The county had budgeted $9 million.
Instead, the bill (to be introduced Tuesday) would create a “targeted public education campaign about sidewalk and snow removal for owners of property in the County,” an effort that would include “pedestrian priority routes” for more targeted education and more snow and ice removal enforcement.
The bill would also require the county to create an online map showing who is responsible for clearing snow and ice on each sidewalk in the county.
Montgomery County received 449 complaints about snow-filled sidewalks and walkways by March 19, but none resulted in any consequences for private property owners.
At a March Council meeting, Richard Nelson, director of the Department of Housing and Community Affairs, said the department’s normal practice is to send a letter to the owner of the property in question.
Nelson said the department’s typical practice is to send an inspector to sites of complaints when there is a second complaint. This winter, Nelson said the DHCA sent inspectors to 40 sites and in each case, the situation had been resolved.
The bill proposed by Riemer and Navarro would require the county executive to come up with a plan for extended hours for those county employees who receive snow and ice removal complaints during a major snowstorm.
It would also require a plan for removal of snow and ice on all publicly-owned property and a plan for trash removal during a major storm event.
