Committee Fails to Introduce Snow Removal Law

The Chatham Township Committee failed to introduce an ordinance last week that would require homeowners to shovel or otherwise remove snow from their sidewalks.

Committee Members Bailey Brower, Jr. and Kevin Sullivan and Mayor Nicole Hagner voted against introducing the ordinance.

The vote followed a 40-minute discussion of how the ordinance could and should look. Committee Member Kathy Abbott, who eventually made the motion that the ordinance be introduced, said two-thirds of towns in the state's League of Municipalities have snow removal laws, and she wanted Chatham Township to join their ranks.

Abbott said she discussed snow removal with friends in both the borough and township. Though she originally wanted the ordinance to apply to the entire town, she said she was "talked away from that" by several factors.

According to Township Engineer John Ruschke, about 16.6 percent of homes in the township have sidewalks. Abbott suggested drafting an ordinance that perhaps only applied to certain kinds of sidewalks, such as sidewalks made exclusively of concrete and which were four feet wide, or only sidewalks within three-fourths of a mile from schools.

Attorney Carl Woodward said he was willing to craft the ordinance however the committee wished, but in his opinion, "I think you should do it for the whole town," not just people within a certain distance of schools or with a certain type of sidewalk.

"I think the greater good is the safety of the people," Abbott said, and having cleared sidewalks was in the interest of every pedestrian in town. "The people moving in would like a walk-able community," she said.

She said she'd received 10 letters in favor of the ordinance. When Committee Member Bailey Brower, Jr. pointed out that the township has well over 3,000 households and 10 was not a substantial amount, Abbott responded, "But how many letters did we get against it?"

Brower said he would vote against introducing the ordinance for several reasons, especially liability. "If you don't clear your sidewalks and someone trips, it's not your fault," Brower said. "But if you do clear them and someone trips, you are liable."

Abbott clarified homeowners who shovel are not liable for conditions that occur naturally after shoveling their sidewalks, such as if the temperature drops and ice forms on the sidewalk. She said she was in favor of applying the ordinance to the entire town, but said nonconforming sidewalks should not be included.

Abbott and Deputy Mayor Robert Gallop voted to introduce the ordinance and hold a public hearing and second vote on it at a future date. Mayor Nicole Hagner, Brower and Committee Member Kevin Sullivan voted against the ordinance.

The committee last discussed a snow removal law in 2003. According to Abbott, residents filled the committee chambers to oppose the law, and it did not pass.