I think it is fair to say that most homeowners look after their sidewalks in winter as best they can and a bylaw that would require residential sidewalks to be cleared daily before 11 a.m. is asking too much.
(Ironically, the proposed bylaw wouldn’t apply to Sundays and statutory holidays ... the days that most working folk would probably find far easier to attend to their civic duties!)
I live in Uphill. I walk to work every day. In winter it can be quite a treacherous trek and, for most of the season, the sidewalks that have not be cleared are the ones I gravitate towards; these are the paths with sufficient snow on them to allow me to dig in my heels and get a little traction.
Working people, busy parents and seniors are not necessarily going to be able to promise to maintain immaculate snow-free sidewalks throughout the winter all before 11 a.m.
We do our best. Many of us are fortunate to live beside gracious neighbours who share the burden as we try to help one another out.
Let’s keep it that way ... cooperation, not legislation.
Kate Bridger, Nelson