Last week, the East Lansing City Council approved an amendment to an existing snow-removal ordinance requiring property owners to shovel sidewalks, rather than those who are currently occupying the house.
Snow accumulated before noon on a sidewalk now needs to be cleared by midnight that same day Any snow that follows after noon on a sidewalk also needs to be cleared by midnight the following day. Salt also must be applied to ice within 12 hours of formation.
East Lansing City Manager George Lahanas said the change was made to ensure safety and prevent residents from walking in the street.
He said the old ordinance caused issues with enforcement.
The ordinance will go into effect Oct. 1.
Supply chain management senior Kelsey Haines was responsible for shoveling the snow outside of her house on Grove Street this year, even during university breaks, when most students were not in the area.
“We weren’t aware if there was snowfall, so we would get fined if there was any because we weren’t there to remove it,” Haines said.
Haines and her roommates received one ticket this year for not shoveling their snow - a total of $85 - even though it was their first offense.
The new ordinance will alleviate the amount of tickets that renters can receive if they fail to comply with snow removal efforts. Haines said the change would benefit students.
“I think that’s probably for the best considering the students have breaks where there’s still potential snow and we don’t have a ton of control over our driveway and sidewalks when we’re gone,” Haines said.
Hagan Realty agent Matt Hagan believes the change might increase rent prices for East Lansing tenants.
To reconcile the potential lost funds from snow removal services, Hagan said he anticipates management companies will be adding snow removal services into tenants’ rent.
Management companies also might have to employ more workers or outsource their removal efforts.
“I think it’s unfortunate that the renting population is going to have to deal with this,” Hagan said.
To protect future renters, Hagan went to the University Student Commission to address the concern of another added expense to a tenant’s lease before the ordinan ce went to the East Lansing City Council.
“We tried to make people aware that it was not necessarily a good thing for the renting population,” Hagan said.
