Snow scofflaws force St. Paul and Minneapolis to clear hundreds of sidewalks each winter

Each winter, after every snowfall, Josh Capistrant meticulously clears his Merriam Park home's sidewalks. It's neighborly, he said. It improves safety. It's the law.

The St. Paul man wishes all his neighbors felt the same way. Some seem not to.

"The ordinance says if you've got a sidewalk, you have to shovel," he said, noting that daily walks with his dog instead reveal an obstacle course of slick ice patches, rock-hard ridges and snow-encrusted paths. "The whole point of sidewalks is access. But some just don't do it."

Property owners in St. Paul and Minneapolis are required to shovel their sidewalks, edge to edge, within 24 hours of every snowfall. But each year complaints compel city crews to clear snow from thousands of properties, collecting fees as high as $240 an hour from owners who won't — or can't — do the work themselves.

To Capistrant, winter and spring have become an endless loop of social media admonishments, appeals and reminders for his neighbors to do the right thing.

"I have called on my neighbors for this repeatedly," he said, noting problems with a dozen student rentals and an apartment building for which downspouts empty onto the sidewalk. "I have to say I'm a total maniac about this."

A last resort

Minneapolis issued 3,336 warning letters and cleared 756 sidewalks between Nov. 1, 2021, and Feb. 22, 2022. Before winter's end, the number will likely be higher, since there is a lag between the time letters are issued, snow is cleared and bills are sent, city spokeswoman Sarah McKenzie said.

Minneapolis ordinances require the owners of single-family homes and duplexes to clear their sidewalks within 24 hours after snow stops falling. The owners of other properties have to clear them within four "daytime hours" — defined as 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — of the final snowfall.

"Clearing snow and ice from sidewalks helps people of all ages and abilities safely walk or roll to where they need to go," the city said in a news release earlier this winter. "This is a primary mode of transportation for many people in the city so it's important to be a good neighbor and help them out."

While the city doesn't technically impose fines, property owners who fail to adequately clear their sidewalks still face a financial penalty.

Inspectors begin monitoring for compliance 24 hours after snow stops falling. If they spot a violation, they send a warning letter.

"The end result could be the City removing the snow and ice if the property owner doesn't, and a bill being sent to the property owner for the work," McKenzie said. A typical bill is $229 this year. Last year, it was $239.

Last snow season, Minneapolis collected $259,315. The year before, $533,209.

The St. Paul approach

In St. Paul, the system works a bit differently.

St. Paul's Department of Safety and Inspections (DSI) sends a letter to property owners or responsible parties after receiving a complaint, said spokeswoman Suzanne Donovan. A code enforcement officer often inspects a property 48 hours after the letter is postmarked.

If the sidewalk still hasn't been cleared, a work order is issued and a Parks and Recreation crew is sent to shovel. But if the property owner clears the snow before the crew shows up, they can avoid paying $160 per hour, plus another $80 per hour if salt and sand are needed. About 85 percent of complaints are corrected before a city crew has to shovel, Donovan said.

"It's really meant to give people plenty of time," she said.

In 2020-21, the city sent 1,187 letters to property owners. More than 1,100 shoveled before crews got there. St. Paul collected $19,908 in fees.

In 2019-20, 2,323 letters were sent, and about 2,200 property owners shoveled before crews showed up. Owners paid $66,328 in fees, Donovan said.

Not all scofflaws

Not all snow-covered sidewalks belong to scofflaws.

Jocelyn Jacks, who lives in St. Paul's Frogtown neighborhood, took a nasty fall three weeks ago, fracturing a kneecap and tearing a rotator cuff. Having grown up making Christmas money shoveling snow for neighbors, Jacks said she's used to clearing her sidewalks herself.

"It's just not possible at this time," she said.

She also couldn't afford to pay someone. Jacks lost her job in January. Then she heard about a group on Facebook called Saintly City Snow Angels.

"They've been a godsend," Jacks said.

The brainchild of Midway-area resident Heather Worthington, Snow Angels is a Facebook page where people can ask for free help — or offer it.

Worthington, who has lived in the Midway for 25 years, got the idea after noticing a few neighbors regularly didn't shovel. One, she knew, had physical limitations.

"So I put a note on the neighborhood page asking 'Does anyone need help shoveling?'" Worthington said. As of Friday, the page had 182 members.

"I think we make a lot of assumptions about why people don't shovel," she said, pointing to elderly neighbors, people who are disabled and even pregnant women.

Get help, not angry

Seneca Krueger, a Midway resident who does in-home physical therapy, began volunteering through Snow Angels last year after walking her dogs and getting "really angry" at neighbors who weren't shoveling.

"Instead of getting angry, I decided to start helping," Krueger said. "Actually, it's a much better approach for me, because the anger and the frustration just created disconnection from the neighbors."

Capistrant, too, said he tries to connect with neighbors. Last week, on Facebook, he posted: "Next moment it gets warm, get on those sidewalks, folks. It's really awful out there. Someone falling and getting hurt is a tragedy to avoid, but also, being attentive means access for many: strollers, the disabled and more. It is a minimal thing to do to show we care about each other as neighbors."

Not everyone embraces the message, he lamented. "What if we could just instill in each other that if there's a pile of snow, just clear it up?"