There’s no doubt that this last month’s weather events have been frustrating for most people. For drivers, it’s meant getting stuck on rutted roads and sliding perilously close to parked cars on the daily commute. But that pales in comparison to the frustrations of local residents who walk, bike or use public transit to get around. As we reported in last week’s article, “Rider’s Luck,” people such as Jordan Ohlde, who has cerebral palsy and uses Cascade East Transit as his sole form of transport, are quite literally stuck at home when the snow piles up on the sidewalks and bus stops.
While we acknowledge that this season’s round of storms has been quite unusual, stories such as Ohlde’s are still deeply concerning—and it’s a problem that falls on all of us. If your sidewalks are not cleared by now, you are part of the problem. If you have a business without a cleared sidewalk by now, you are most definitely part of the problem—and likely, one that is affecting your business when people are unable to reach it on foot or in a wheelchair.
According to James Goff, code enforcement manager for the City of Bend, the City handed out 933 notices of violations of snow removal guidelines as of Jan. 30. Goff said: “Six citations were issued to businesses not in compliance, but were later voided at the request of our city manager’s office due to our extraordinary snow loads.” In case you’re curious, the fine for not shoveling your sidewalk is $200 in residential areas and $400 for all other zones.
Indeed, this has been an “extraordinary” year in terms of snow, and in terms of snow removal, it’s been a monumental task for the City to stay on top of on the roads alone. It’s also been a difficult time for homeowners faced with the threat of leaking or collapsed roofs. We take all of this into consideration. Adding a fine on top of an already-difficult situation may seem like insult to injury, but we posit that it shouldn’t take a notice of violation—or even the threat of a fine—to move people to action at this point in the recovery. Business owners who fail to clear their sidewalks adequately—and that means adequately enough for a wheelchair to pass through—should be compelled by the simple fact that it’s the right thing to do.
While currently on a hiatus for the winter, the City of Bend and the Oregon Department of Transportation are in the midst of improvements on Third Street, to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Surely we are not the only ones who find it ironic that currently, most parts of Third Street—even those parts already improved—are impassable for a person in a wheelchair. Even a sure-footed person may find it difficult to walk from point A to B.
While we venture to say that actually gathering those snow removal fines would add funds to a City budget that so clearly needs more dollars in its streets fund, we also believe that snow removal is just the right thing to do. It’s not just about fines or the threat of getting one of those reminders from the City hung on your door. It’s about caring for the people who simply want a way to get to work and to contribute to our community.
This article appears in Feb 1-8, 2017.
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Thanks Editorial committee. Good job. Doesn’t matter that this year has hit us with a lot more snow than usual. Property owners, businesses, the City and Cascade East transit routinely does a poor job of managing snow, especially for people who walk or use transit. This is not the first year that snow was left where it falls. Get your acts together. We get snow every year. Plan on it and be ready to make sure the public can get around, even those who do not drive a car. And quit waiving fines. The problem of blocked sidewalks and bus stops won’t go away unless people and business are motivated and fines are good motivators.
At this point, why do we have a city manager? He’s useless in my opinion. The city has done next to nothing this year. I live a little south of town and while my neighborhood is plowed by contractors, I have seen a city plow truck directly behind them several times. During the Christmas season the same thing happened and after a heated conversation with the city employee I emailed the city to report it. I figured I would get a response but was not so lucky. I’m not sure what they’re doing.
Residents, visitors, businesses, employers, transit riders, and pedestrians have all paid a very significant price this winter due to problems and failures in snow removal. When people cannot get around in the community, commerce grinds to a halt, people lose pay when they can’t get to work or the business closes, businesses also lose out on customers spending money, and not being able to get to needed stores, services and medical appointments impacts us all. Yes, we have received a lot of snow this year; however, if a well structured and enforced plan and policy was in place by The City of Bend, Cascades East Transit, and businesses then the public, and particularly pedestrians, would still have been able to get around. Every person who leaves their home or place of business is a pedestrian, even if only for the few feet it takes to get to their vehicle. Many people do not have their own vehicle to walk to and are full time pedestrians for a variety of reasons. I hear the Dr offices are overwhelmed this year by the number of people who have fallen while trying to get around town. Likely some of those falls were on their own property, although I have personally witnessed several people falling in the public right of way and parking lots. The City and CET only needs to study cities that routinely get heavy snowfall and are seldom bogged down to the point we were this winter. Studying other snow cities should also include implementing key learnings here instead of telling us that those policies or procedures don’t work here because of this or that or some other thing. And, every snow removal operator needs to understand that accessible (handicapped) parking spaces are NOT the designated snow storage zone. The demographic group of DMV Placard holders are already very significantly under served for parking availability and many absolutely cannot enter or exit their vehicle without a clear access aisle adjacent to the designated parking space. I believe it is shameful that the City waived fines. If door hanger info cards for the past few years has not motivated property owners to clear snow, then enforcement and fines just might help that problem. The berms that still exist downtown that make it dangerous to get from vehicle to sidewalk is a liability. The City and Downtowner’s need to work out a plan for snow removal that does not end up with the public slip sliding over snowy icy berms until spring. The snow removal issue is one that everyone in Bend needs to be prepared to help create a solution. It is good for everyone. Good access is good for Bend.