Please Deice Your Sidewalk

[derekp.livejournal.com]

We're a few days removed from the first winter storm of the year, and yet many stretches of sidewalk in and around Davis Square are still covered in ice. Simpson Ave seems particularly bad as you get towards the Broadway end of the street and Cutter was no Picnic last night either. I can only imagine the folks who live there are renters, as I would think owner residents would not want to risk the liability. One trip to Home Depot or Tags and a few seconds tossing a small amount of rock salt on the ground will fix this. Please everyone do their part to keep the sidewalks in our neighborhood safe all winter.

Is there recourse for pedestrians in Somerville when folks do not clear the sidewalk or does it simply become a legal issue if/when someone slips and falls? I'd like to see the city stepping up to clear bad areas, perhaps citing landlords and residents who repeatedly fail to keep the sidewalk safe.

Comments

[ifotismeni]

if i remember correctly, that whole area is a lot of students and new renters. in many cases the owner is responsible, not the renters. (in my case, i am responsible, but i hear i'm an exception.)

i was under the impression there were fines for uncleaned sidewalks but i could be wrong.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

The owners are ultimately responsible but they can pass some of that responsibility on to you in your lease if all parties agree to it.
There are fines for not clearing the sidewalk in front of your property but they've certainly not kept up with inflation and border on trivial ($25 for first offence, up to $100 for nth offence but since the people writing the tickets don't keep track it's almost always $25).

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

According to the Somerville Snow Emergency Brochure (http://www.somervillema.gov/CoS_Content/documents/SnowBrochureFinal.pdf) on the City's website, residents are responsible for shoveling and sanding their sidewalks within 6 hours of the lifting of a snow emergency.

[damsel-ophelia.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, there isn't. All you can do is call 311 and complain about it. Supposedly, people get cited for not keeping the sidewalks clear. And in MA, "natural accumulation of snow and ice" is not enough of a reason for the owner to be held liable for medical bills. I found this out the hard way last when I broke my tailbone as a result of a fall on College Ave.

[bombardiette.livejournal.com]

Brochure says residents, not home owners. (See link below). It's pretty vague otherwise.

blah blah blah, long comment.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

I'm interested to see what happens this year at the Kennedy School over near Porter. In the past, they have kept their sidewalks clear on school days, but completely ignore the ice on weekends or snow days. Which is fine for the sidewalks within the school property (between the parking lot and playground and doors), but the rest of the community still uses the many yards of sidewalk that line the street around the property, even if there's no school. I've nearly wiped out there too many times to count.

Last year, I left a very polite message at a number I found on the city website - can't remember if it was a number specifically for reporting this kind of issue, or just a general line - saying that I didn't know if public school property was the school's responsibility or the city's, but that someone should be clearing those walks. I didn't see much change.

[elements.livejournal.com]

I'd love it if there were a good recourse. I think part of the issue is that for general ice & snow, rather than emergencies, I think it's the landlord's job not the renters', and most folks aren't excited about doing free work for absentee landlords.

In my building of 2 apartments, a couple of us living there generally take turns, but there's only so much I have time (or am willing to get sore muscles) for shoveling in any one winter, so I don't do it all the time. It's been hard enough getting ordinary repairs done, so I'm not going to push the landlord. I expect my situation is not unique.

That said, I really wish people would at minimum put down rock salt, which is neither hard nor expensive to do. I've already fallen down twice. Blech.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

Hi there --

I rent my apartment and regularly shovel and de-ice my sidewalk. The same goes for the other renters in my building. So, I'd appreciate it if you'd be careful about you're assuming.

Anyway, I also find the sheets of ice on sidewalks incredibly annoying (and unsafe!), especially as I walk to work. Last night while walking home, I seriously considered buying a bunch of salt and salting the entire neighborhood myself!

FYI, Simpson is indeed bad, but left side of the street (left if you're walking from Holland towards Broadway) is much better. Russel Street (off of Elm, across from the Domino's) is equally bad.

If I am correct, there is some fine associated with leaving ice/snow on your sidewalk if it's reported, but I am having trouble finding any information about it. Maybe dial 311?

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Hmmm, I said the owners were responsible and someone corrected me saying it was the resident... we're both wrong. Per Somerville law, section 12-8 "No owner, tenant, or occupant of land or a building abutting upon a sidewalk within the limits of any public way in this city, and no agent of such owner having the charge of such land or building shall place or suffer to remain on such sidewalk for more than six hours between sunrise and sunset on any day, any snow or any ice, unless such ice is made even and covered with sand or other suitable material to prevent slipping."

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

Re: blah blah blah, long comment.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

Not to mention that the school lot is used for snow emergency parking. The City should definitely ensure the sidewalks are clear there on weekdays and weekends.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

So, wait ... is that saying that anyone has to get rid of snow within 6 hours, or that no one does?

[ursamajor]

Seriously. The entirety of Beacon Street between Ivaloo and Morgan, I feel safer *walking in the middle of the street after dark* than daring that slippery mess.

(Yes, I know, not safer, but dammit, it's been like that since Tuesday.)

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

You know, speaking as a Davis Square pedestrian...this really doesn't bother me all that much. I'm not enthused about it but honestly, as a lifelong pedestrian, there's stuff in the Square that bothers me a lot more.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Everyone. Yeah, good luck enforcing THAT one.

So, like, everyone is responsible?

[winterhill.livejournal.com]

I have found that when everyone is responsible, no one is responsible. Everyone thinks "someone else" will take care of it. I suggest calling 311 -- they track the nature of calls received, so a the very least they will have stats on how many people have raised the issue.

[mamajoan.livejournal.com]

So it's the owner(s) and tenant(s) jointly -- yet if you ask tenants they'll say it's the owner's problem, and vice versa. Lovely.

Times like this I'm actually glad to be an owner-occupant. I may not like the responsibility, but at least I know it's mine!

[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

Our landlord hires someone to shovel and put down salt, and they do an excellent job, so it's not out of the question for other landlords to make similar arrangements. I've also called 311 to complain about icy and snowy sidewalks (one house on our block consistently does not shovel). If nothing else, you get the satisfaction of complaining.

I wish the city would just take care of the sidewalks like so many other municipalities outside New England do. New York and Montreal, for example, shovel or snow-blow the sidewalks. Putting the responsibility on residents is a recipe for trouble, especially in a city with so many students and other high-turnover renters.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Watch out for the double negatives and similar traps, the state and municiple codes are full of them. To rephrase, it's saying that no person responsible for the sidewalk is to allow snow and ice to stay on the sidewalk. So yes, the owners, tenants or even an illegal squatter and their agents are responsible for snow and ice removal on the sidewalks.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

Anyway, I also find the sheets of ice on sidewalks incredibly annoying (and unsafe!), especially as I walk to work. Last night while walking home, I seriously considered buying a bunch of salt and salting the entire neighborhood myself!

Maybe buy a bag and rig up some sort of backpack with a hole at the bottom so it's just distributed as you walk. ;)

All of these comments are making me so grateful for my landlords, who operate a business out of the first floor of our house. I've been totally willing to help the few times I've been up and out before they're finished, but they're super-early birds and almost always have the sidewalks cleared by the time I leave for work.

So now I can never move. I'm spoiled.

Only sort of related.

[lonelyholiday.livejournal.com]

This reminds me of a story: My dad me about these people in his neighborhood (in Pittsburgh) who decided that since they were responsible for the sidewalk abutting their house, they also had the right to do whatever they wanted with it. So they dug up the cement and laid down sod. I find this both obnoxious and hilarious.

This was over the summer, I believe, so I need to remember to ask him how that turned out.

[xuth.livejournal.com]

Rather than complain, I used to take the opposite tack and just shoveled a path through the snow for my entire block. I never did a great job of it* but at least people could walk on the sidewalk. I've seen similar efforts of people clearing the walk around powderhouse park when the city fails to clear it.

* I make an exception for the people that are genuinely unable to clear the snow and tried to do a decent job for them too.

[derekp.livejournal.com]

For sure, but this seems like a relatively easy fix to me.

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

if i was a property owner in somerville, i'd either make sure my sidewalk was "out of commission" (construction) every winter. sorry, walk around. perhaps by dumping 2 tons of sand on it ;) the lawsuit wouldn't be worth it.

it's probably cheaper over all for individuals who are walking a lot to buy their own yaktraks or equivalent. personally, i'd rather stay healthy and unbroken all winter and not hurting from a fall. yah, i know, on a special planet it would be nice if the sidewalks are perfect year round. oh well, they aren't. ;)

see ya

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[grapefruiteater.livejournal.com]

Hah, I guess you're a nicer person than I am! I live on a major street and don't feel I should have to take responsibility for such a large section of sidewalk. It's really just one house that consistently doesn't shovel at all, but in an area with heavy foot traffic, that can get dangerous quickly.