D.C. again fining residents, business owners over snowy sidewalks

The D.C. Department of Public Works is back to issuing fines to residents and business owners who fail to clear snow off their sidewalks.

Typically, people must clear sidewalks in front of their properties within the first eight hours of daylight following winter weather. On Jan. 28, Mayor Muriel Bowser waived the fines, which are $25 for residents and $150 for business owners. 

Now, the punishment is back in business.

“We want to ensure the safety of our residents, also our visitors, for hazardous issues. … We want to ensure that there is free passage of the public space, the sidewalk and around the property, to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to be able to use the sidewalk appropriately,” Kayanda Jones, lead solid waste inspector with the Public Works Department, told Washington’s WTOP-FM.

Ms. Jones said she made the rounds Friday, informing people about the policy and the resumption of fines in and along Rhode Island Avenue in Northeast.

Other parts of the area also resumed their fines this week, nearly two weeks after the major winter storm that dropped snow and sleet across D.C.’s metropolitan area.

In Arlington County, Virginia, fines between $50 and $100 resumed Tuesday, according to Washington’s WTTG. The fines there are contingent on the length of sidewalk that must be cleared.

Sidewalk enforcement also resumed Tuesday in Alexandria, according to Maryland’s WDVM-TV. Fines there are $50 plus the cost the city incurs to remove snow.