Sidewalk upkeep difficult on main roads
by JESSICA L. FINCH Associate Editor

Maple Road resident Willie Roberson cleared his sidewalk one Friday night, went to dinner with his wife and returned home to a snow- and debris-covered sidewalk. Yet no new snow had fallen.

The Erie County plows driving down Maple Road and other major roadways make winter shoveling especially difficult. Not only do residents have to shovel freshly fallen snow, but also slush, snow and even asphalt thrown from the roadway onto their sidewalks.

"I clean it up, and I work hard. I can't plow two, three times a day," Roberson said at Monday's Amherst Town Board meeting. "Plus the asphalt - who wants to shovel that?"

Roberson was seeking assistance, which he has done for years. At the meeting he was armed with the first citation he had received in 15 years for not shoveling - $25. He said he plans to fight the fine.

"We need some ideas, assistance for us. We try hard," he said. "I need help with this ticket I have."

While the residents on major roadways have a different battle to fight, the issues involving snow-covered sidewalks in the town come around every year.

Since December, the Building Department has handed out approximately 1,200 citations, Assistant Building Commissioner Bob Danni said. He did not know how many of those citations included a fine.

"We operate most of the time on a complaint," he said. "We don't just cite one resident; we do the entire street."

Danni added that the town allows 24 hours after a snowfall before residents are expected to have their sidewalks cleared.

When it comes to sidewalks maintained by the town, Danni said the Building Department doesn't get involved.

And that was the topic of discussion during Council Member Guy Marlette's report at Monday's meeting.

He addressed the issue of uncleared sidewalks on Sheridan Drive between Fenwick Drive and Mill Street, an area where residents were granted a waiver from clearing sidewalks along the rear lot line of their property. The waiver thus put the responsibility on the town's Highway Department.

Marlette's resolution stated, "The Amherst Traffic Safety Board has determined that the lack of proper and timely clearing of snow and ice from these sidewalks has created a safety hazard to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic."

Supervisor Satish Mohan said the Highway Department is equipped to handle that duty thanks to the purchase of a plow for the sidewalks.

"They got the machine, and they are (clearing) sidewalks," he said.

Marlette was quick to refute Mohan's blank statement.

"I respectfully disagree. They haven't been doing it," he said, adding that he drove by a section of Sheridan Drive before the meeting, and it hasn't been cleared, days after a snowfall.

The board had a lengthy discussion about the maintenance of sidewalks.

"This is a much bigger problem than that one section of Sheridan," Council Member Barry Weinstein said, adding that he has been working on the problem for years and hopes for a plan.

In April 2007, the Town Board granted a waiver to eight homeowners on Rosemont Drive and Hartford Road from clearing the sidewalk along Millersport Highway. The section waived is also abutting the rear lot line of their properties.

The board passed Marlette's resolution to alert the Highway Department to the issue on Sheridan Drive and agree to continue to work out the sidewalk problem.