Washington Park East Neighborhood Association

Slippery or Snowy Sidewalks Have You Peeved?

Feb 27, 2001

It's not easy getting around on foot in the winter; even when sidewalks have been conscientiously shoveled, melting snow can cause ice patches when temperatures drop at night or in shady areas. However, if your neighbor is repeatedly negligent about clearing the sidewalk after a storm, what can you do? First, talk with your neighbor! City Ordinance #48-9-551(a) requires that residents remove snow and ice from public sidewalks within 24 hrs. of a snowstorm, and that businesses do so within 4 hrs. If not, the offender runs the risk of being ticketed. For example, if the neighbor travels a lot, he or she should arrange for a neighbor or a snow shoveling service (check the yellow pages) to shovel in the wintertime. Perhaps the person is physically unable to shovel, and helping to arrange for other neighbors, relatives, or church volunteers to take turns shoveling his/her sidewalks could be the answer. If your neighbor refuses to communicate with you, you can try calling the Denver Mediation Center at 720/865-2998. Both parties must be willing to talk with a mediator to iron out the problem. If communication fails and the problem persists, you may report a possible violation: 1) Call the city "Neighborhood Inspection Services" at 720/865-3200. 2) You must give your own address and your name.
3) You must give the address of the "possible offender" and state the exact problem you have observed. Remember, you are asking the city to investigate to see if there is a code violation. The usual response time is five days, according to Lois Court with the Office Of Neighborhood Response. This procedure applies not just for snow shoveling, but for things like uncut grass or weeds in the warm months, trash on private property, couches or refrigerators on porches, trees or bushes obstructing public sidewalks, and so forth. For a complete listing of code violations on private property, call the Neighborhood Inspection Services and ask them to mail you a flyer.