City takeover of sidewalk snow-clearing voted down again

Thestar.com
April 20, 2021

The latest push for a municipal takeover of sidewalk snow-clearing in Hamilton was voted down by a city committee Monday.

That means the controversial, two-decade-old debate will be put on ice until after the next municipal election unless a full council opts to reverse the 6-4 public works vote next week.

Disability advocates reignited the oft-rejected pitch to clear sidewalks in 2019 with a photo-heavy “Snow and Tell” campaign highlighting unsafe and unfair conditions.

The city conducted a resident survey and has brought a series of updated cost estimates to council -- including the latest Monday suggesting city-wide sidewalk snow-clearing would cost $8 million, or $26 extra on the average tax bill.

Right now, the city has a bylaw obligating owners to shovel the sidewalk in front of their property.

Right now, the city has a bylaw obligating owners to shovel the sidewalk in front of their property -- but that rule “isn’t working consistently across the city,” argued Coun. Nrinder Nann, who pitched a compromise to have Bobcats clear about half the city’s sidewalks, including on all transit routes.

That pitch would have cost about $4.4 million, or an extra $12 per average household tax bill.

Despite the bylaw -- and more than 100 charges laid against shovelling scofflaws in 2021 -- Nann argued many stretches of sidewalks go uncleared, leaving seniors, disabled residents and those pushing strollers stuck in the snow.

Coun. Sam Merulla said the proposal was “promising something that we can’t deliver” and risked leaving residents with unrealistic expectations.

City staff warned mechanical snow-clearing would only begin after the buildup of five centimetres of snow -- and the blades of clearing machines cannot scrape down to “bare concrete.” That means homeowners would still have to shovel away the remaining hard-packed snow.

City transportation operations head Edward Soldo said staff are always braced for snow-clearing complaints. “Sidewalk clearing will be very similar to roads,” he said Monday. “When it comes to clearing them, there will always be an expectation that we can do better.”

The committee voted 6-4 against the pitch, with Merulla, Pauls, Chad Collins, Lloyd Ferguson, Arlene VanderBeek and Maria Pearson opposed. Nann and Farr joined John-Paul Danko and Tom Jackson in support.