Daley won't fine for unshoveled sidewalks

I just finished shoveling outside this morning. Yesterday when the snow was falling it appeared that my home was the only on that hadn't cleared the sidewalks. Another home only shoveled a walkway toward the street so they can get to a parked car.

I had no idea that there were fines for those property owners who will not shovel their sidewalks:

The never-enforced ordinance empowers the city to issue $50 citations against building owners who fail to clear walkways narrower than 5 feet within three hours after the snow stops falling.

Ah, but why is Daley even commenting?

With snow blanketing Chicago and an election around the corner, Mayor Daley wouldn’t dare flex his legislative muscle to fine building owners who neglect to shovel their sidewalks.

City Hall has had that power for decades, but has never used it. Daley is not about to start now.

“I don’t think so. We just want people to understand that they have a responsibility — a civic responsibility to do it,” the mayor said.

“You always ask everybody to be the good neighbor. If you have a senior citizen next door, [make] sure you’re cleaning their sidewalk. ... Everybody has a responsibility. We have a clean city. People have great pride. ... Cleaning your sidewalk is really important. We hope everybody does that as good neighbors. It’s a safety precaution as well.”

I may need to see the ordinance. It may apply to either commercial buildings or residential apartments, but the article doesn't make it clear. I'm no lawyer so hopefully the language isn't too complicated. The only question is whether or not this ordinance applies to single-family homes. It doesn't look like it, however.

BTW, PLEASE shovel your sidewalks today. The sun is out, but I hope there's no more show in the forecast. ALSO, how does it look down the sidestreets. In my part of town, the sidestreets aren't looking so good.

Via CapFax morning shorts!