How to fight City bill for shoveling snow

[Millions]

In December I had a warning to clear the snow and ice from the sidewalk.

With my house being on a high traffic street, it tends to get tramped down before I get a chance to shovel.

Anyways, The warning came just before the 1st of Jan and I had called the bylaw officer and told him I would have it done by the 3rd. Which I did

I went out on the third and cleared it all.

Now supposedly they came on the 8th of Jan and also cleared it of ice and snow and therefore are charging $260.

My only thinking is that it snowed the night of the 7th, and before I even came home, they had it done on the 8th.

Now I am trying to fight this. You can see in the pictures they took that it had been recently done because Ice chunks were on the sides.

ANy ideas?

 

[bizaro86]

I would get a weather report showing that it snowed on the 7th in the evening, and sign a declaration saying I had done it prior to then.

Michael

 

[manojsingh]

Matthew its not worth your time. Fighting with city for small amount of money is not advisable. Even you win after 8-10 hours of paper work is not justified.you can create more dollar value in this time. Just write a letter along with some proof if they agree great otherwise pay the money. Thanks

 

[jwilbrin]

QUOTE (Millions @ Feb 3 2010, 06:54 PM) In December I had a warning to clear the snow and ice from the sidewalk.
With my house being on a high traffic street, it tends to get tramped down before I get a chance to shovel.

Anyways, The warning came just before the 1st of Jan and I had called the bylaw officer and told him I would have it done by the 3rd. Which I did

I went out on the third and cleared it all.

Now supposedly they came on the 8th of Jan and also cleared it of ice and snow and therefore are charging $260.

My only thinking is that it snowed the night of the 7th, and before I even came home, they had it done on the 8th.

Now I am trying to fight this. You can see in the pictures they took that it had been recently done because Ice chunks were on the sides.

ANy ideas?

In Calgary you have 24 hours to remove snow from your sidewalk. You mentioned you received the notice before the 1st of January; your first mistake was telling the bylaw officer you would have it done by the 3rd. The answer should have been, "I will have it cleared TODAY". The city does not tolerate delays when it comes to snow removal especially when you have already delayed it.

Was this a rental property that you received the warning on? If so, just hire someone to do snow removal. You can get guys to come out and shovel for $25 or less. Be thankful that you only received a warning and a bill for clearing -- imagine how much more it would have been if someone slipped and injured themselves and then sued you.

Now if you decide to still fight the city (which I don`t think is worth your time) you will want to get a weather report for January 7th to find out if it did indeed snow. Advise the city that you had shovelled the snow prior to that snowfall; then remind them that you have 24 hours after a snowfall to shovel the snow. If it did snow as you said on the evening of the 7th and the city shovelled it on the 8th during the day then you certainly were not afforded the 24 hour grace period.

This from the city of Calgary site:

"Under Street Bylaw 20M88, the owner or occupant of any private property adjacent to a sidewalk is deemed responsible for the removal of ice and snow from that portion of the sidewalk within 24 hours after the ice or snow has been deposited."

My advise to real estate investors is always to study and understand not only the LTB rules & regs but also to understand your obligations with regards to city bylaws and also your personal liability.

Icy sidewalks are a huge liability.

 

[invst4profit]

I agree with Manoj it`s not worth your time and effort to fight city hall for minor amounts. Your chasing wind mills.
Write a letter outlining your complaint and then let it go.
In business fighting on principal is not worth the expense.