The city of East Lansing helped clear a path for pedestrians when it handed out more than $4,000 in snow removal fines during the winter break.
Residents who did not shovel snow from the sidewalks around their homes received an $85 ticket. City ordinance states that sidewalks adjacent to a property be cleared within 24 hours of snowfall.
"It is a safety issue," East Lansing police Capt. Juli Liebler said. "We have a lot of people with disabilities in our community."
Liebler said snow-covered sidewalks force residents with disabilities to walk or use their wheelchairs in the street.
"It is not fair to people who cannot get around," she said.
More than 50 properties in the city received tickets, Liebler said, adding that the city hopes more residents will shovel their walks.
"When it snowed just before Christmas, we wrote tickets for people who made no effort to shovel their sidewalks," she said.
East Lansing officials have said that sidewalks must be kept clear, even during a university break. Some students have said that handing out a large number of tickets during break is unfair, but city officials disagree.
"Fifty tickets in a city of nearly 50,000 people - to me that is not excessive," Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said.
Students who live in rental units must sign an agreement to have the snow shoveled, either by the landlord or the tenants. Copies of the agreement are supposed to be attached to each lease.
"I like to think that college students are as anxious to be good neighbors and citizens like any one else," Golden said. "This ordinance applies to everyone."
But Linda Seibold, house director for the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority house, 605 MAC Ave., said she shoveled a path but was still ticketed.
"I shoveled it, but it rained, so I did not see it as a continued issue," Seibold said. "It was shoveled, just not down to the cement. Maybe it was not shoveled to their criteria."
The Kappa Kappa Gamma property covers two lots, each with sidewalks that need to be cleared, she said.
"It is normally taken care of by (hired) boys who were not there over break," Seibold said. "It is difficult to find someone during the break to do that."
Seibold plans to contest the ticket because of her trek out into the cold to clear snow.
"If they have criteria, it should be better known," she said. "They have to take some things into account - it is unrealistic to expect them all to hire someone to do that."
The city made efforts to let the public know about snow removal earlier this season, Liebler said.
James Adams, who resides on Ann Street, also was fined. He has been hospitalized since July because of a tumor in his throat. He returned home Wednesday.
Even though he was recovering, Adams does not plan to contest his ticket.
"I still have my neighbors and the people that walk down that sidewalk to consider," he said.
Those hoping to contest their tickets can do so at the East Lansing City Hall, 101 Linden St.
The city is recommending that fines be reduced for the first round of tickets, Golden said.
"What we are after is a change in behavior, not punishment," she said. "We want people to understand that if they don't clear their sidewalks, there are consequences in this city."
