nudging the predictable: Nelson: The Slippery Slope of Bylaw Enforcement

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Literally, too: slippery slope as in winter-sidewalks. Specifically those along businesses/residences in the downtown corridor.

Ideally I would write this against a backdrop of downtown-days in snow to slush to ice to more snow..... - winter in Nelson. But as it happens - today is a red-carpet day: a stunning blonde in blue, with a swirling train of gold and silver. Even in Louboutin stilettos - safe and downtown.

Bylaw No. 3203, amends City of Nelson Traffic Bylaw No.3156
Notice to Motorists, Businesses & Residents
4.
According to City bylaw," Every owner or occupier (sic) of a business premises (sic) shall remove any accumulation of snow or ice upon (sic) any sidewalk abutting the land or premises owned or occupied by the person not later than 11:00 a.m. of any day except Sunday and holidays." When clearing downtown sidewalks, please do not push the snow into the amenity area.
5.
"Every owner or occupier (sic) of residential premises shall remove accumulation of snow or ice upon (sic) any constructed means of access including but not limited to sidewalks, stairs or driveways adjacent to the land or premise owned or occupied no later than 11:00 a.m. of any day."

I am quoting verbatim, including punctuation! Doesn't mangled officialese just make you sic! Irregardless - shoveling's gotta be done by 11! But not on Sundays or holidays - and that according to the already amended version of Traffic Bylaw No. 3203 above - although many businesses in downtown Nelson are open at least on Sunday. So - in effect - anyone entering/leaving/passing one of those on Sunday will slip at his/her own risk!

Anyway, the shoveling-law is nothing new - everybody knows! And too many owners or occupiers - possibly about a third of those in the downtown corridor - don't care, slippery slopes and all - because they don't have to. That's what it comes down to here and in the following.

(Just One) Example:
Corner building 417 Hall/701 Baker
Owner - Wade Nearing

Occupants - 417 Hall entrance (to upper level)
Dr. Esta M.Porter
Midas/Ronson Tire
Global BC

Occupant - 701 Baker entrance (to street level)
Lordco Auto Parts
Opens Mon - Fri: 7:30am; Sat: 8:00am; Sun- and holidays: 9:00am

The building is somewhat set back from Baker, with an area the depth of an average car's length providing parking between building and sidewalk - along all of the Baker side.
Lordco occupies the whole street-level space of the building but only the right half of the parking-area, for 3 to 4 cars.
The left half has three signs, announcing that two spaces are reserved for Global BC and Dr. Porter, on a 24-hour basis, and the third allows authorized parking (towable!) only.
Left and right are separated by a Coke machine. My concern is with the whole Baker side - that because I walk and walk along there, when I walk downtown and back almost daily.

Here goes:

Over the last four winters - as a rule - the sidewalk along the left reserved parking-spots - and as far as the Baker/Hall crossings - has never been cleared of snow/ice, unless the City plowed in very rare supersnow conditions. Meaning that this stretch may go from deep snow to deep slush then bumpy ice plus more snow over time: this only to disappear during a lengthy warm-days-and-nights spell. All unsafe enough during the day - then there are poorly lit nights! This may be a situation where: if everybody is responsible - nobody is responsible.

The Lordco parking-area on the right is heated from below, thus any snow falling on it will melt quickly and run-off into the snow on the sidewalk, which then turns into/remains ever deeper slush for long periods of time - no run-off into the street! - unless it all freezes into very bumpy ice on the sidewalk during the night. This also can become cyclical - snow, slush, ice, snow, etc. And worse at night!

Over the last four winters, Lordco only cleared slush on those few occasions when - seemingly only sort-of - prompted (but not followed-up) by a bylaw officer prompted by me. One-time efforts.
It has run like this: My first attempt - over time - at getting this often very deep-wet or icy but always unsafe situation taken care of for good - was by talking to a man at Lordco. He was not receptive, made excuses.
So I called Bylaw Enforcement: telling the man there about this ongoing problem. Asking him why there was no sidewalk-shoveling-bylaw enforcement. He promised to look into it and called me back to tell me that he handled it by being nice to the Lordco! And Lordco shoveled once. Possibly as a favor/reward for nice!
I eventually found out where the need to be nice to bylaw-breakers seems to come from.

The following winter I talked with a parking-meter man on Baker about the still-ongoing situation. He had excuses for Lordco's - what I thought - total disregard for pedestrians along that stretch, while accommodating driving customers with a heated parking-pad and Lordco knows what else! And again I brought up why parking-meter officers - walking on unshoveled or iced-over sidewalks to check meters anyway - don't enforce the shoveling-bylaw at the same time. He said he would look into it.
This was the bylaw-man frequently seen downtown, standing around and having chinwags. A gregarious kinda fella - and what with everybody being somebody's second cousin in this here small town - clearly it's more comfortable to confront non-confrontational parking-meters.
Then - last year - I talked with another meter-man on Ward at Baker. This one was decidedly into meters only. And when I came-up with - admittedly somewhat simplistically - Lordco just doesn't care, he emphatically said yes, they do! Defensive! As in defending a bylaw-violator! He! Bylaw-enforcement guy!

There seems to be no middle-ground with Bylaw Enforcement. The name alone - Enforcer - brings-up bad-movie images. If one were to think about it. As I do. Many members of the public may have bylaw-concerns but could be hesitant to so abruptly - in this one-step approach - "complain" officially about a "violation", what with having to find applicable info first and then get/download the Complaint Form to go on-record! Also - again there's the second-cousin possibility!

What could be addressed with a phone-call to Bylaw Enforcement - and resolved by them with a visit to the party of concern - is not happening here, ostensibly because of a lack of resources. But if there is a lack of resources - probably meaning a lack of manpower - a particular case coming to a resolution may take a long time. In my particular area of interest: winter may be over! One more time next year! Bylaw Enforcement Procedures admit that an investigative process may take several months! While violators continue to do because they can!

But - with principles and the larger picture on the line - I am ready to take all official steps advised. What with Nina Simone singing: That'll learn ya! and me being more inquisitive and much more straightforward - pushy? - now than when I initially became aware of (this) bylaw problem(s) years ago. Enough already! I will file separate complaints against Lordco, Global BC and Dr. Porter. Also the Bylaw Enforcement Department itself! I mean: who enforces that Bylaw Enforcement enforces!
I've got the forms: now I am waiting for the next snow-slush-ice attack to provide appropriate background noise.
Interestingly - complaint-forms are to be handed in at the police-station. Another possibly off-putting factor for many. A connector: If we had a more visible walking police-presence - another story! - they would experience sidewalk conditions first-hand. Community-involvement!

The across-Nelson survey established clearly that many are not satisfied with bylaw-enforcement! This segueing nicely into City Hall recently announcing that a new way had been found to coax hesitant bylaw-related fees/fines out of locals, and even more recently Councillor Cherbo sighing that raising parking-meter fees has not lived-up to baited-breath expectations.
There are dots begging to be connected. Like: maybe people don't pay fees and fines because of their dissatisfaction with bylaw-implementation or enforcement, or they don't care because they feel the City doesn't. And maybe the disappointing meter-funds could be supplemented by firmly laying down the law - second cousins or not - with snow-shoveling-bylaw breakers! And whoever else ought to to be fined according to bylaws!

Some of the money coming in that way could pay for extra help if needed. Or - more important - retooling the process. The Bylaw Enforcement Procedures state that the City doesn't have the resources to be on top of bylaws being broken and must rely on citizens to come forward to alert Bylaw Enforcement to violations. I certainly did - and nothing!
What if its officers - working within a closed environment where bylaws clearly are broken - only had to acknowledge cases, to then initiate a process.
You know how to write tickets - so write already! How simple is that!

It is bizarre that the old, the infirm, mothers with little children - all, really, because all are unsafe in conditions mentioned above - should have to "alert Bylaw Enforcement" to this kind of in-your-face violation all over the downtown area, possibly after the fact - an accident - before the bylaw is actually kick-started. In a few months! But never on Sunday!
A senior - breaking a hip on a slippery sidewalk - may not be in any condition to do much "alerting", even less the clearly needed following-up!