Every winter, after the first few snow falls, the City of Moscow gives its citizens a friendly reminder of their civic responsibility, said Jen Pfeiffer, assistant to the city supervisor.
That responsibility is for property owners to keep up the maintenance of their sidewalks, and during the winter that includes snow removal, she said.
Abi Stomberg | Argonaut
Students traverse past snow piles to and from the Idaho Commons Thursday. The Sidewalk Snow Removal Ordinance requires business and public places to keep sidewalks clear of snow.
To remind people of this — and also let people know that may be unaware — the city of Moscow sends out a press release and also has it announced on the local news channel, Pfiffner said.
“We have a policy to keep our streets and sidewalks clean for residents,” she said. “That way they can get from point A to point B.”
When it snows, property owners are only required to clear the fallen snow from their sidewalks, not snow deposited by a snow plow or kicked onto the sidewalk.
Pfiffner said the plows do not deposit snow onto sidewalks in many places.
She also said the reminder goes out to citizens because they might have to clear their sidewalks more than once, since they sometimes get to it, but it starts to snow again or continues to snow.
“The responsibility (of the sidewalks) primarily falls on the citizens,” she said.
Moscow is not the only city that requires its property owners to maintain efficient sidewalks.
According to the City of Los Angeles Street Bureau Services and the New York City Government, their property owners have to maintain and keep their sidewalks in a safe condition.
In Moscow, however, the city’s property owners can receive help from the city in that endeavor.
Pfiffner said the city has the Sidewalk Program, which was created to improve the sidewalks for all users.
With this program, property owners who need to update or fix their sidewalks can contact the Moscow Streets Department, and then the department puts the areas that need work together, and attempts to do group purchasing.
This allows the improvements to be made together, and can cut down on the cost of the process, she said.
Allison Griffith can be reached at [email protected]
