Marblehead considering new bylaw to force property owners to shovel snow

MARBLEHEAD-Marblehead voters may be excused for having a strong sense of déjà vu.Three years ago Article 21 of the Town Warrant proposed a bylaw that would require property owners to shovel the snow off their sidewalks.This year Article 21 of the Town Warrant once again proposes a bylaw that would require property owners to shovel the snow off their sidewalks.The 2006 Town Meeting debated the merits of the proposal strenuously. During the debate Maureen McKinnon-Tucker of the Marblehead Disabilities Commission, speaking from a wheelchair, said the article was about being a good neighbor and responsibility to the community. However, former Selectmen John Whipple and William Conly said the town owned the sidewalks, not the individual property owners, and the town was responsible for plowing. No definite legal opinion was given but the voters referred the article to an eight-member study committee.The study included a survey with 76 responses, 60 of them opposed to such a bylaw, and in the end the Sidewalk Snow Removal Committee voted not to recommend adoption of a bylaw. No bylaw appeared in the Warrant for the 2007 Town Meeting, and nothing more was said until now.This year?s article was sponsored by Judith Bocock and other voters. Their bylaw specifically mentions its purpose as “to assist school children, the elderly, and the general public from having to walk in the street or be injured on snow-covered sidewalks.”The bylaw requires residents and businesses to remove snow from their sidewalks within six hours if the snowfall ends during daytime and by noon if it ends at night. Violations carry a fine of $25 for each day that the snow remains unshoveled.Sidewalk Snow Removal Committee Chairman John Whipple said in 2007 that the committee would start a public relations campaign encouraging residents to remove snow in front of their homes as an aid to the elderly, the disabled and school children.The committee also suggested that the town clear the sidewalks on major roads as much as possible, within budget constraints. As for the need to find some way of shoveling sidewalks in front of elderly and disabled people?s homes, “Neighborliness can go a long way,” he said.