How Regina's new sidewalk snow clearing bylaw is going so far

More than half of the complaints made to the City of Regina about snowy sidewalks were non-compliant as the city works through its public awareness stage for a new snow clearing bylaw.

As of Jan. 1, all property owners in the city must clear their own walks and nearby sidewalks to the edges of the sidewalk and as close to the concrete as possible within 48 hours of a snowfall.

• What to know about Regina's new sidewalk snow-clearing bylaw

Residents can place the snow on their property or the curb lane of the street as long as it isn't more than two and half meters into the roadway.

Monitoring education

Andrea McNeil-Wilson, bylaw enforcement manager for the City of Regina, said enforcement officers are focusing on education and monitoring how the bylaw is working to keepsidewalks safe.

She said from Jan.1 to February, a total of 665 complaints were made relating to the bylaw.

When a complaint is made, a bylaw enforcement officer will go inspect the sidewalks to see if they are safe. If there is a violation, the officer will educate the homeowner on the new snow clearing bylaw or, if they aren't home, leave an information sheet.

The officer will later follow up and see whether the property owner cleared their sidewalks after the initial chat to track whether education is a successful strategy.

McNeil-Wilson said of the 665 complaints, there were 341 violations of the bylaw after the officer returned.

The city is also doing a general survey of more than 1,000 properties to see if it needs to do more education.

More accessible

The purpose of the new bylaw is to make the city more walkable and accessible for those with mobility issues or strollers, in accordance with its transportation master plan and official community plan.

Kelsey Culbert is a Regina resident with a physical disability who uses a motorized wheelchair to get around.

"Our sidewalks are not safe to be driving around on in any kind of weather. I get stuck in the hard packed snow," said Culbert.

"Using para-transit and having these huge snow ridges in front of my house are a huge barrier for this, because they have to load me in the middle of the street."

She said she would still like to see more sidewalks cleared of snow and for the city remove the ridges of snow along the road, which are also a barrier.

When will non-compliant people be charged?

McNeil-Wilson said she will look at lessons learned at the end of winter, see what worked and consider enforcing the bylaw beyond education come first snow next winter.

In cases where people are not compliantafter warnings, the city will do the clean-up and the cost will be added to the owner's property tax bill.