Baltimore Homeowners Start Facing Fines For Un-Shoveled Sidewalks

RadioOnFire.com - If you live in Baltimore City and your sidewalk hasn't been shoveled yet, you might want to get on that.

In a briefing Tuesday, housing Commissioner Paul Graziano says the city will start enforcing the sidewalk shoveling law tomorrow.

"The ordinance actually requires within six hours of the end of the storm," Graziano said. "We actually will be waiting three days, given the magnitude of the storm."

The law requires that the owner of any sidewalk-fronting home or business must clear a two-foot path and refrain from obstructing storm drains. Fines are $50 for residential properties, $100 for commercial ones. Enforcement, Graziano said, will start in the "main gateway corridors" and along bus routes.

However, in some parts of the city where residents are still digging themselves out, they're still waiting for the city to help with a plow. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake says the city has brought in 600 additional pieces of snow removal equipment from as far away as Canada to help. That includes two giant snowmelters that can melt 60 tons of snow per hour. 

William Johnson, the city's transportation director, says they are trying to prioritize those streets that are still waiting for their first plow pass. He says they are also targeting neighborhoods with schools so those schools can reopen.