The Haddonfield Board of Commissioners has decided against a snow ordinance it had considered after last month’s record storm.
The measure would have required residents to shovel their sidewalks after a storm like the one that hit on Jan. 25.
Public Works employees were immediately all hands on deck after that snowfall, but once the most necessary plowing was done, Borough Administrator Sharon McCullough noted at the commissioners’ Feb. 9 work session, clearing residential sidewalks would have been a difficult task for the department’s five employees.
“So it’s slow, especially when you see us trying to move the large mounds,” she explained. “You’ve got 3 feet that you’ve got to clear so that cars can park, then part of the sidewalk so that they can get up onto the sidewalk. That was taking four men a significant amount of time just to get our downtown cleared, and then trying to pick days where we’re able to tell people, please move your cars.”
Aaccording to Public Works, there were more vehicles parked on the street during the recent storm than in the past, complicating the borough’s ability to plow from one curb to another.
Commissioner Itir Cole asked about the possibility of geo-fencing, virtual “perimeters” that can trigger an alert to owners of parked vehicles if they hinder plowing. McCullough responded that implementing the system would depend on how many people register for alerts. Commissioner Frank Troy estimated that number may be between 4,000 and 5,000.
While the commissioners eschewed an ordinance, Troy indicated they would see what other towns are doing.
“Maybe take a look at the language, see if that could be fine-tuned and compare it to what they have in Cherry Hill, Haddon Heights, Collingswood,” he suggested. “And see if any one of those municipalities have anything better.”
Cole also wanted to know what happens if someone falls on a resident’s unshoveled sidewalk. Board Solicitor Salvatore Siciliano pointed out that the injured would sue the homeowner, not the borough, since Haddonfield doesn’t have an ordinance in place.
“Even if it were a violation of a borough ordinance, that can’t be used in any kind of subsequent civil proceeding anyway,” Siciliano said. “It would be the same thing if there’s a traffic accident and someone gets cited for speeding. That citation, that speeding ticket, that’s not indicative of carelessness that caused the accident.”
Cole referred to a fax sent to residents regading the lack of a snow-shoveling ordinance.
“It seemed like the main message was, we don’t have an ordinance,” she remarked. “Oh, should we have an ordinance? Is that the message that we’re sending? And that became the conversation online. I don’t feel strongly one way or another, but it’s worth discussing.”
McCullough said the borough usually deals with smaller storms, making Jan. 25 an exception.
“Over the past several years, the snowstorms we’ve typically gotten have been 4 inches or less,” she emphasized. “And cleaning up a 4-inch snow is very different from cleaning up an 8-inch snow, especially an 8-inch snow that was followed by ice …
“We have typically only focused on … making sure the crosswalks are clear where the crossing guards are,” McCullough added. “But in a storm like this, you had the whole length.”
Mayor Dave Siedell wanted to know if the borough has enough road salt in storage. McCullough responded that while there had been snags in salt delivery because of the frozen Delaware River, the borough has 30 to 40 tons in storage.
