Who's responsible for shoveling sidewalks?

Update: This article was first posted on Feb. 2, 2015, but is being reposted as an extra reminder after the city of Rochester issued a statement this morning asking residents and business owners to please remember to help keep the sidewalks clear. The city said it will have its sidewalk plows out, but it takes them a while to get around to everywhere they need to go.

My ankles are still damp as I write this, thanks to a stretch of sidewalk that looked more like a snowdrift as I walked to work downtown on Monday morning.

It's still coming down out there, so it's a little early to get annoyed about having to trudge through snow.

But if that sidewalk remains buried after the storm, who's responsible?

In short, if you're a city property owner, you are. In the suburbs, the rules vary.

In Rochester, city code requires property owners to clear sidewalks of snow and ice in a timely manner. The city's website says that first-floor tenants should do the job outside commercial buildings.

Where you put that snow is important, too. You aren't supposed to put it on any other sidewalk, roadway or against a fire hydrant. If you have a fire hydrant outside your home or business, it's a good idea to keep it free of snow, too.

"At my home — I'm a city resident — I shovel my driveway every time it snows. I shovel my sidewalk every time it snows," said Norman Jones, the city's environmental services commissioner. "That's my responsibility. That's my duty."

Those sidewalk plows seen around the city are meant only to supplement property owners' shovels or snowblowers. The city sends the plows out only when at least four inches of snow falls.

It costs the city roughly $1.1 million a year to help clear sidewalks, Jones said. The city divvies its 878 miles of sidewalks into about 55 routes and hires private contractors to plow each one.

"We do that being mindful we have children walking to school," Jones said. "We have people walking their dogs."

The plows hit sidewalks on major streets Friday night to clear them before this storm, Jones said. They have since made another run and will do at least one more Monday night. It takes several hours just to clear a few inches.

"When you have that amount of snow in that amount of time, it's tough to stay on top of it, but for all intents and purposes, we are on top of it," Jones said.

Beyond the city, it all depends on where you live. In Penfield, the town Department of Public Works handles sidewalk plowing.

"We're responsible, especially in the business districts, for opening up the sidewalks," said public works director Ronnie Williams.

A trio of employees responsible for plowing sidewalks headed out into the storm around 4 a.m. and again at 10 a.m., Williams said. Altogether, the town has about 65 miles of sidewalks to maintain and typically plows any time more than two or three inches of snow falls.

The village of Webster also takes responsibility for clearing sidewalks, Mayor John Cahill said Monday.

In Greece, public works crews plow roughly half of the town's 600 miles of sidewalks. They clear the walkways on both sides of main drags like Latta and Long Pond roads, but only one side on smaller residential streets.

The town alternates which side annually. Residents are not expected to shovel if their sidewalks go unplowed.

"Our goal and what we strive for is to get out before the kids go to school and to get out before they come home," said Kirk Morris, public works commissioner in Greece.

But in Brighton, while the town helps out by plowing walkways along major roads, property owners are generally responsible for clearing their sidewalks. But residents have the option of forming snow removal districts and paying the town to plow the walkways in their neighborhoods, according to Town Supervisor Bill Moehle.

There are 17 such districts in Brighton and the service generally costs homeowners less than $25 a year.

"If your home is not in a district, you do have an obligation to clear your own walks within a reasonable time after an ice or snow event," Moehle said in an email. "We use districts because many neighborhoods in Brighton do not have sidewalks, and it would be unreasonable for all owners to bear that expense on a town-wide basis."

The bottom line: If you're a property owner, don't assume that clearing the sidewalks is somebody else's problem.

And if you're a downtown property owner, help a reporter keep his feet dry and shovel.

DRILEY@DemocratandChronicle.com

Twitter.com/rilzd