Kitchener residents fed up with city's snow clearing rules

A row of homeowners on Ahrens Street in Kitchener are disappointed after receiving Sidewalk Snow Removal notices from the city following Monday's snowstorm.

Gary Farkas, who lives on Ahrens Street, said he received a notice telling him he must clear the snow from the entire width of the sidewalk, despite clearing the walkway three times before.

Snow along a Kitchener sidewalk

“The expectation is to clear it down to bare pavement and it's tough to do when the plow goes by,” Farkas said. “It was really discouraging, it was upsetting, because we work hard to clear our sidewalks.”

The city requires residents clear their sidewalks 24 hours after a snowfall. If a complaint is made, a bylaw officer will issue a notice. If nothing is done, the city will hire contractors to clear it, billing the homeowner for the cost.

A notice about clearing snow off a Kitchener sidewalk

Farkas’ street is unique, because he does not have any boulevard separating the road and sidewalk, which causes the row of snow left from the plow to spill over onto the walkway.

“Having the amount of snow that was falling down, and then the repeated amount of snow that was pushed from the road onto the sidewalk made it very, very difficult,” Farkas said.

Across the street, there is a small boulevard. No notices were handed out to neighbours on that side.

“I think it's unreasonable to expect him to clear the sidewalk, plus half of the amount of snow that falls onto the roadway. You just can't do it,” David Dowhanuik, Farkas’ neighbour said.

According to the City of Kitchener, residents and business are responsible for clearing snow and ice from sidewalks around their properties, even after a major snowstorm. However, homeowners with nothing separating the sidewalk and road do have options.

“If they are feeling overwhelmed by what’s been placed there and they feel it’s unreasonable, they always have that option to call in and request an assessment to be done,” Gloria MacNeil, director of bylaw for the City of Kitchener said.

Farkas said since he complained, the city has redacted the notices.

“Once we had a better look at it and had an operations supervisor go by, then yes absolutely it was determined that that would be something that we would look after,” MacNeil said.

Residents in Waterloo are also expected to clear snow within 24-hours and place what they can on their lawns.

“So it is definitely a joint effort for us all. I encourage everybody to help their neighbours that they know need help, but a big thing that we need to do as a city is keep our sidewalks accessible,” Nicole Papke, director of municipal enforcement for the City of Waterloo said.

MacNeil said there are local agencies that can support residents who need help shovelling.