Vancouver property owners could face $250 fine for not clearing snow from sidewalks

Often times immediately after a Vancouver snowfall, rain and rising temperatures will wash away any trace of the white stuff before residents have a chance to reach for a shovel.

But with daytime highs below zero, the snow that fell Tuesday is sticking around and that means property owners need to clear it away or face fines of $250 or more.

A city bylaw requires property owners to clear the entire width of the sidewalk – right down to the pavement – by 10:00 a.m. the day after a snowfall.

"We have seniors and people with mobility issues so we really want to make sure those people can get out and get where they need to go safely," said Amy Sidwell, the city's manager of street operations.

She says early in the season city staff generally take a more educational than punitive approach to enforcement.

Zero fines have been doled out so far this season.

Over the last five years, the city has issued 5,128 notices to property owners but only 527 bylaw violation fines.

"We are complaint based and inspection based. So, when we are out and receive complaints, we are also out looking at other properties in the neighbourhood to see if there's any compliance issues we need people to follow up on," Sidwell said.

The rules apply to residential and commercial properties, along with schools and parks.

On Thursday, more than 24 hours after the deadline for snow clearing, the sidewalk at Grandview Park on busy Commercial Drive remained quite icy.

And portions of the sidewalk around East Vancouver's Chief Maquinna Elementary School were nearly completely covered over.

But sidewalks around most other parks and schools appeared to have been well-maintained.

That was also the case for the vast majority of residential and business properties surveyed by CTV News on Thursday.