Shovel your sidewalk. Seriously.

At left is occasional CityBeat guestblogger Eddie. CityBeat received a specific request for Eddie’s perspective on this season’s snow, but unfortunately Eddie has been too busy picking road chemicals out of his little paws to do any typing. He did ask me to pass along a plea for clear sidewalks, on behalf of the shoeless animals of Fredericksburg.

We’ve been lucky enough to have a recent string of snow-free days (To tell you the truth, I am afraid to count the exact number because I am sure that will jinx it, and the thought of more snow makes me physically ill at this point.). However, many city sidewalks remain uncleared.

In case you didn’t read this or this, the city code requires you to clear the sidewalk that abuts your property.

Since we live in the South, enforcing the snow-shoveling laws hasn’t traditionally been a high priority for the Fredericksburg Police Department. But since somebody mixed up this year and sent us Vermont’s weather instead, complaints about unshoveled sidewalks have mounted.

To address that, Fredericksburg Police spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe reports that police have drawn up this flier, and have been posting it on the doors of offenders.

Property owners who do not comply could find themselves with a $50 fine. 

So make sure you’ve cleared your portion of the sidewalk. Your neighbors and others have to use that sidewalk to get to their cars and walk their dogs. Your mailman has to use it to get to your door. Trudging through frozen white stuff pretty much lost its charm for all of us in December.

Permalink: http://news.fredericksburg.com/citybeat/2010/02/19/shovel-your-sidewalk-seriously/