Columbia Falls looks at tweaking snow ordinance, again

Last week the Columbia Falls city council took a look at an ordinance that has seen a lot of attention in recent years — the law regarding snow removal on sidewalks.

Current city law requires that home and business owners clear the sidewalks of snow by noon of the day following a weather event if the property is adjacent to a walk.

The law has been on the books for years, but the city , particularly after the last couple of winters, has been emphasizing it more.

This winter, compliance with the law has been better than years past, but at the last city council meeting, city manager Susan Nicosia suggested the ordinance be tightened down yet another notch.

In a draft presented to council, the city is considering issuing a written notice to scofflaws within 48 hours of a violation and if there’s no compliance, the city will clean the walk and put a lien on the property.

Enforcement of the ordinance is largely complaint driven and seems to depend on the weather. The more snow there is, the less compliance, because the snow gets too deep to move in some cases.

In other cases, a walk is cleared, only to have it plowed back in by snowplows clearing street — sometimes just a few minutes later.

Police Chief Clint Peters noted he doesn’t have officers driving around looking for violations.

The overarching goal, however, is to get more people to comply. Mayor Don Barnhart noted the quandary.

“I don’t know what the answer is,” he said. “You either have an ordinance and enforce it, or you don’t have an ordinance at all.”

Council took no action on the proposed changes. The potential snow ordinance changes are part of a larger effort by the city to update its municipal code, sections of which date back to 1909. The last code update was in the mid-1980s.