Watch: Some Torontonians take to shaming those whose sidewalks aren’t cleared. Mark Carcasole reports.
TORONTO – Wednesday’s record-setting snow storm left the city’s roads, sidewalks and driveways caked in over 15 centimetres of snow.
And homeowners across the city are responsible for clearing that snow.
Homeowners must clear the snow and ice away from the sidewalk in front of their home within 12 hours of the storm ending, according to city bylaws. Homeowners also have to take precautions to keep it safe to walk on which could include laying down salt, sand or ash.
“If there’s an issue we will have a bylaw officer go and inspect the location and if required we can apply a ticket of about $125,” Trevor Tenn, manager of road operations in Scarborough said Thursday.
Do you shovel your sidewalk? If not, your neighbours might take notice.
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Actress Rachel McAdams was singled out following a January snowstorm on Curbed, a Toronto-area real estate blog.
“Come on, McAdams. There’s no star treatment in this city. Grab your shovel!”
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And a Roncesvalles woman took to Facebook after receiving two anonymous notes in the last month that complained she wasn’t shovelling the snow in front of her home.
“I attempted to clear my sidewalk of ice, but managed to injure myself so badly in the process of chipping at it with a scrapper that I was unable to lift my arms above my head,” she wrote on her store’s Facebook page.
She wrote that she does what she can to clear the ice but the stores are simply running out of salt.
“Regardless, today, I poured 60kg of salt and spent over an hour and a half shoveling and scraping after working non-stop for the past month without a day off,” she wrote. “This does not count the time spent shoveling and salting at either of the shops, which I also did. So, in a nutshell, my sidewalk is clear and ready for joggers, walkers, dogs, strollers, etc.”
And she’s not the only one unable to find salt to deice the sidewalk. According to Howard Pressburger, a manager of Wiener’s Home Hardware, there is a shortage.
“It is a city-wide thing, it’s probably a province-wide thing for that matter because the manufacturers, the baggers, they can’t keep up with the demand.”
If a neighbour is delinquent clearing ice and snow from their walk, residents can lodge a complaint with 311. The city is currently looking into approximately 2,200 complaints.
– With files from Mark Carcasole
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