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Saying it is both unfair and unsafe for residents, town officials recently rejected a proposal to require certain property owners to remove snow and ice from public sidewalks abutting their property.
The Town Council last month heard from various New Canaanites voicing their opinions on the first selectman’s proposal from June. A committee of the legislative body at its July 15 meeting voted unanimously to reject the suggestion, despite budget concerns.
Town Council Bylaws & Ordinances Committee Co-Chair Tom Butterworth said, “There is very low likelihood [the proposal] has got any life left in it,” following the legislative body’s vote.
Before residents addressed the Council, members conducted an informal straw poll, in which all council members expressed a collective desire to reject the proposal.
Following the straw poll motion, residents were invited to speak to the Council.
Here is what they had to say:
Rich de Moll: “As you probably already know, Park Street is a designated response road and, therefore, has enhanced snow clearing in the winter. In addition, it’s a primary access road for cars going to high school and middle school complexes as well as the Merritt Parkway. Many New Canaan residents and their guests use Park Street to walk to the train station, Mead Park, and town center. My neighbors tell me many of them moved to Park Street specifically for its walkability to town locations. Given the significance of Park Street to our town, the town’s road crew continuously plows Park Street during snow storms which is actually good, however, there is no meaningful shoulder on Park Street and the sidewalk is immediately adjacent to the road. So for us, that means even though we pay to have our private service clear the sidewalk in front of our community the sidewalk is covered in snow again and again as the town repeatedly pushes the snow from the street up onto the sidewalk. It’s not feasible or affordable to require our association—for that matter, any homeowners on Park Street—to keep up with the frequency and volume in the town’s efforts to keep the route safe for EMT, police, student drivers, school buses, and resident travel. By the way, you should be aware that the town’s small snow plow that is used to clear the sidewalk struggles to clear snow on Park Street because telephone poles have been installed in the center of the sidewalk for a significant portion of the street which of course is not ADA Compliant. Pedestrians using aids for mobility, dog walkers, and mothers with strollers struggle to use a sidewalk even in the best of weather – of course it’s even more dangerous in the winter during snow storms and after sunset when there’s limited lighting. These pedestrians frequently must walk in the road traffic to get around the poles – a dangerous endeavor at best.”
Steven Einstein: “The big issue I have is safety. I concur in your determination in terms of not moving forward with modification of this ordinance. However, I think it’s important to underline that the most important, significant function of municipal government is to provide for the safety of the populace, and the snow plowing when done on Park Street or Mead Park always pushes the snow onto the sidewalk. I had just recently commuted to New York City and every day we would walk to the train station. I would have to walk on Park Street with oncoming traffic on icy roads. You could not walk on the sidewalk, especially during high snowfall, so I think it’s important to understand that uniformity and consistency of the plan is important. Some folks, even if they’re not obligated get out there with shovels and clear the path … it doesn’t provide a clear path to the train station or into town but most importantly for the commuters – and they’re not dozens, but probably 100-plus commuters that walk on that path and they’re endangered every time. So let’s think about safety as well.”
Roy Abramowitz: “I have no skin in the game other than being a taxpayer because I live on Laurel Road up in the northeast corner and nobody’s ever building sidewalks. The problem I have is the lack of transparency. When I hear that the problem on this is budget constraints, when you have overruns up the wazoo and spend $4 or 5 million on the movie theater, $40 million on a library – I could have built a Taj Mahal – and other overruns, I have a problem when you’re telling the citizens of New Canaan who pay the taxes—governments do not have money, governments have taxpayers’ money—you have to spend it prudently. You cannot ask people if they’re seniors to go out in the cold when there’s wind to shovel snow, even if you build new sidewalks. You’re putting health at risk and you cannot do that. The town, in my mind, has to find places to cut in the budget and fulfill its obligation to pass a referendum to the people that are affected. Going forward, my stance would be that if you’re going to make sidewalks in that area, you have to have the town take care of the removal of the snow – especially for people over 60, people with medical conditions, because it’s about safety.
Chris Hussey: “Unlike most of you, I have history. I sat on the Town Council for 29 years and one of the things that we voted on was this ordinance. There was a lot of back and forth – who wanted it, who didn’t – but what convinced us which way we would go to vote for the town to take the liability was the fact that frankly, the community, the municipality is in far better condition financially than most homeowners to absorb that responsibility. But we were torn. We didn’t know which way to go. We made a commitment, we made a promise – there would never be financial responsibility on the homeowners. I’m on Main Street, I was on Forest which also has sidewalks, I would say two to three dozen people from 5:30 in the morning until dark and sometimes beyond use those sidewalks – they are a wonderful asset, we want to keep them – but when you think about the financial liability to the owner and the ability of the community there’s just no comparison. I know we want to expand our sidewalks, but it isn’t right to penalize some to benefit others. It doesn’t seem right to me. What is most important to me is we gave our word, we passed an ordinance and I could be wrong but I don’t ever remember us overturning an ordinance. I would like you to think very carefully about this. I can’t see myself at 84 years old shoveling snow, I can see myself flat on the sidewalk and many of my neighbors – it’s not a matter of age, it’s dangerous. I would believe there would certainly be a great increase in your property insurance because of that liability that the town is imposing on you. I ask you to think about this very carefully and do what you think is right.”
Following these comments, Councilman Jen Zonis moved to turn down the new proposed policy and was backed by Councilmen Jen Zonis, Committee Co-Chair Hilary Ormond, Butterworth, Kimberly Norton, Cristina A. Ross, Maria Naughton and Rita Bettino.
Good decision.