That the Safety and Facilities Services Committee recommend to City Council:
Whereas, snow and ice on sidewalks create hazards for pedestrians during the winter season; and,
Whereas, the City of Oshawa’s (“the City”) Snow and Ice Removal By-law 92-2009, as amended (“Snow and Ice Removal By-law”), requires every property owner to completely remove snow and ice on any sidewalk abutting their property; and,
Whereas, in response to numerous complaints received from pedestrians and residents with accessibility issues, Council directed staff to initiate a review of the City’s Winter Maintenance Program; and,
Whereas, in 2013 a review of the City’s Winter Maintenance Program was conducted and recommendations were made in part to increase the efficiency of the sidewalk snow clearing program, as well as to mitigate the City’s risk associated with slips and falls on sidewalks; and,
Whereas, Council approved amendments to the Snow and Ice Removal By-law in 2016 (related to Report CS-16-09); and,
Whereas, a new enforcement approach for clearing snow and ice from sidewalks was established (CS-16-09), which included warnings, Administrative Monetary Penalties (A.M.P.s), a robust annual communications and advertising strategy, and cost recovery tools for the snow and ice clearing work provided by City resources; and,
Whereas, since 2016 staff have been undertaking an education-focused enforcement approach by issuing warning A.M.P.s to property owners in hopes that the combination of warning A.M.P.s, education, communication, and A.M.P.s, where necessary, would promote compliance; and,
Whereas, the City continues to receive numerous complaints from pedestrians and residents with accessibility issues despite previous communication initiatives around snow and ice clearing which have proven to be effective in raising awareness of property owner responsibilities; and,
Whereas, there is a concern that the continued education and issuance of warning A.M.P.s related to the Snow and Ice Removal By-law is not efficient as it adds costs to the City and, in some cases, may not deter repeat offenders; and
Whereas, it is now essential to transition from the education-focused enforcement approach to a penalties-based enforcement process by issuing A.M.P.s on the first contravention instead of warning A.M.P.s for the upcoming 2022-2023 winter season; and,
Whereas, the Snow and Ice Removal By-law was further amended in 2020 by By-law 81-2020 to introduce tiered and escalating A.M.P.s as an additional tool to encourage compliance and address repeat offenders;
Therefore be it resolved:
- That staff be directed to discontinue the education-focused enforcement approach and instead adopt a penalties-based enforcement approach for property owners in violation of the Snow and Ice Removal By-law; and,
- That property owners in violation of the Snow and Ice Removal By-law will continue to be responsible for all other applicable fees and charges, as established by General Fees and Charges By-law 13-2003, as amended; and,
- That staff be directed to continue the robust annual communications and advertising strategy with a focus on educating property owners about their responsibilities and applicable penalties; and,
- That the bylaw be renamed the Winter Access Bylaw; and,
- That in the event that ice and snow are not cleared off the sidewalks adjacent to Industrial, Commercial and Multi-residential properties within the designated times in the bylaw, the City reserves the right to have the ice and snow removed at its discretion and without further notice with the cost of removal to be added to the annual property tax bill for those properties.
Councillor Nicholson resumed the Chair.