Winter Walking and Cycling

[danbrotherston]

I had what I thought was a good case study of the "new" enforcement in Kitchener this week. I say that because the vast majority of sidewalks have been cleared, either by the property owners or just by the intense sunlight we've had periodically through the week. So enforcement staff surely can't be overburdened running around issuing warnings.

I did note one address- 741 King Street West, which is vacant- which on Monday was covered in a thick layer of slippery ice. I called the City to report it Monday morning, all normal. This morning I passed again and the condition was unchanged, so I called again, and asked why it might be the case that no warning had been issued. The person who answered wasn't sure, but surmised that it might have been because we've had some snowfall in the past few days that would give the property owner an additional 24 hours.

In other words, even though that sidewalk is slippery and icy (when nearly every other sidewalk is clear), the miniscule amount of snowfall (which, in most cases, the sun itself has dispatched of) means that the property owner is compliant with the bylaw. Any additional enforcement is irrelevant.

I have said this literally a hundred times (and I'm using the dictionary definition of literal here).

I'm so sick of repeating it...I just want to scream at city council...

So I'll leave that aside, the other issue you raise is that the Kitchener Contact Centre has no loop back into bylaw, so you cannot find out about the progress of complaints...so frustrating...they know literally nothing about the bylaw situation.