It’s been nearly two weeks since snow and sleet blanketed the D.C. region, and the city has restarted issuing fines to residents and business owners who haven’t cleared sidewalks and other areas around their properties.
On Friday afternoon, Kayanda Jones, lead solid waste inspector with D.C.’s Department of Public Works, went door-to-door along a stretch of Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast.
Holding a stack of flyers, she urged business leaders to do their part to ensure residents and visitors can safely get where they need to go.
“Some know about it,” Jones said of the expectations for businesses after a winter weather event. “Some do not know about it. Some have an idea of what they think sidewalk shoveling is.”
Eight hours after a snow event ends, Jones said, businesses are required to start the cleanup process. They have to clear the entire sidewalk and front of the property, all the way to the street.
Those who make an attempt but still have some snow are reminded of their responsibilities.
Jones told one corner business it’s responsible for clearing sidewalks all the way to crosswalks at the end of the street. Part of the curb at the crosswalk remained covered Friday.
“We want to ensure the safety of our residents, also our visitors, for hazardous issues. … We want to ensure that there is free passage of the public space, the sidewalk and around the property, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be able to use the sidewalk appropriately,” Jones said.
Businesses that haven’t cleaned up their property can receive a $150 fine. For residents, the fine is $25.
In a statement, a DPW spokeswoman said the city has been providing information about sidewalk shoveling laws since Jan. 26.
“Our Solid Waste Education and Enforcement Program team began providing Notice of Violations for failure to shovel the sidewalk within eight hours after the end of a snow event on enforcement on Feb. 5,” the statement read.
Each inspector is assigned areas to monitor, Jones said, and there are service requests they also respond to.
David Wooden, also a lead solid waste inspector, said a big part of the job is stressing “the importance of removing the snow, even if it’s just a pathway for people to travel the sidewalks. We’ve all just got to work together, as far as clearing the snow.”
Arlington and Loudoun counties in Virginia and Maryland’s Montgomery County have similar rules in place for clearing snow.