On Monday afternoon, on North Carson Street, I saw a man with a white cane and a guide dog endeavoring to make his way through the deep snow and blocks of ice that covered the sidewalk in front of a local business. A little further on, I saw school children walking in traffic on a side street because the sidewalks were impassable.
Section 11.12.130 of the Carson City Municipal Code reads as follows:
1. Any owner, agent or occupant of any lot, block or parcel of land which is used for commercial purposes or which lies within the bounds of the "business district" of Carson City which is defined as all land bounded by the north 1/16 line of Section 20 on the south, Nye Lane on the north, Curry Street on the west and Stewart Street on the east, who fails to remove all ice and snow from the sidewalk adjacent to such parcel of land within 48 hours after a snowfall, shall by this chapter be guilty of maintaining a public nuisance.
2. The board may order the department of public works to abate this nuisance immediately without notice to the owner and the cost of such abatement shall be borne by the owner of said lot or parcel.
Why is this ordinance not being enforced? It is bad enough when sidewalks in residential neighborhoods are blocked with snow for days on end, but it is inexcusable for this to happen in the business district.
This ordinance imposes a legal duty on business owners. If they fail to clear their sidewalks and someone falls and is injured by a fall, the failure is negligence per se. Let me say this to local business owners: If someone falls in front of your business, I hope that they sue your socks off.
JAN HAMILTON
Carson City