Councilor: Local Law An Opportunity For Neighbors To Help Neighbors

by Steve Yablonski | March 12, 2018 11:00 pm

OSWEGO – The Common Council approved Local Law #1 of 2018 on Monday night. The law aggressively increases the enforcement, fines and penalties for property maintenance issues such as tall grass, un-shoveled sidewalks, exposed garbage and the tidiness of property visible from city streets.

The legislation is part of Mayor Billy Barlow’s continuing effort to reduce neighborhood blight and “address some of the most unsightly and reoccurring violations in our community.”

It allows the Code Enforcement department to be more proactive in addressing these nuisance violations, the mayor explained, adding that by increasing enforcement and implementing higher fines, the city hopes to prevent these violations from occurring in the first place.

However, there was a flurry of discussion regarding shoveling sidewalks.

City resident Cindy Snyder said the problem of clearing sidewalks following snowstorms has been going on for decades in Oswego.

“This isn’t anything new. There is a large number of elderly still living in their houses. These are people who are probably physically incapable of shoveling no matter how much time you give them,” she told the council.

They probably can’t afford to hire someone to shovel for them, she added.

Also, there are areas of the city that have streets that don’t have sidewalks, she pointed out.

“So, there are children, no matter if you pass this, who will still have to walk in the road,” she said. “I don’t think it’s very cost effective or time efficient to have a member of Code Enforcement driving around trying to see if somebody hasn’t shoveled their sidewalk. People will have to call in complaints because someone hasn’t shoveled their sidewalks.”

Another resident asked for clarification as to when residents need to clear their sidewalks.

They need to clear their sidewalks by 7 a.m. the next day following a snowfall, the mayor explained.

Bill Myer pointed out that neighbors who work shift work wouldn’t be happy if someone snowblowing at 7 a.m. woke them up. He suggested that the time perhaps could be amended to 9 a.m.

Even if people have a contractor to plow or snowblow for them, “a contractor can only be in so many places at one time,” he said.

“We don’t enforce the zoning we have now unless it’s complaint based,” he told the council. I think that’s wrong. If you guys are going to put this stuff on the books, then enforce it. Don’t expect to deputize the whole city of Oswego to enforce your laws. That’s not right”

That just causes “neighborhood wars,” he said; people get mad at other people who file complaints.

He suggested having four or five people from each ward form a committee and sit down with city officials to come up with the best zoning plan for the city.

Council President Robert Corradino sees the local law as “an opportunity, a true opportunity for the city to kind of regain ourself.”

In the “old days” everybody knew their neighbor and helped each other.

“What I’m proposing here, I know it’s going to be pretty radical, is not a call to arms; but a call to snowblowers and shovels,” he said.

If you snowblow in front of your house, why not go a few more feet and clear in front of your neighbor’s? he asked rhetorically.

“If you get people on board to try to make the city better … this could be the start of something pretty nice,” he said.

The local law shall take effect immediately upon filing with the Secretary of State.

Source URL: https://oswegocountytoday.com/news/oswego/councilor-local-law-an-opportunity-for-neighbors-to-help-neighbors/

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