Snowy sidewalks irk disabled

By Daniel J. Chacon, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published December 28, 2007 at 12:30 a.m.

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Photo by Evan Semon / The Rocky

Carrie Ann Lucas, an attorney with the Colorado Cross- Disability Coalition, sits outside her Denver home on Thursday. She objects to the city's leniency in enforcing its snow-shoveling rules.

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Not everyone likes shoveling snow from a sidewalk, but for Carrie Ann Lucas and others like her, it makes the difference between living life as usual or getting stuck at home.

"I can't do it myself, but I make sure it happens," said Lucas, 36, who uses a wheelchair and pays someone to clean her sidewalk.

In Denver, the city gives businesses four hours after it snows to clear their sidewalks. Homeowners have 24 hours.

But the city has been lenient in enforcing the policy, generating complaints among the disabled, who say that lax enforcement leaves them trapped at home.

Denver conducts proactive inspections of sidewalks only in business districts, such as downtown and Cherry Creek.

"We rely on citizen complaints to help us identify those property owners (in residential areas) that we need to educate about sidewalk safety requirements," said Julius Zsako, spokesman for Community Planning and Development.

Complaints can be filed by calling 311.

The city usually will issue violators a warning first, Zsako said.

"We expect that residential property owners will not only clear their sidewalks but they'll be looking out for that neighbor who's out of town . . . or that other neighbor who is mobility-impaired or elderly," he said.

Lucas said such expectations are unrealistic.

"I believe the city has a legal obligation to enforce their snow-removal policy and to proactively enforce it," she said.

Mayor John Hickenlooper's spokeswoman, Sue Cobb, said it would be "impossible" to inspect every residential sidewalk after a snowstorm to make sure homeowners are in compliance.

"It's something that we take very seriously, but there are a couple reasons we don't inspect the residences," she said.

"First of all, the greatest concentration of pedestrian traffic is in the business districts," Cobb said. "In addition, we've got 2,000 linear miles of streets here in Denver, so inspecting all sidewalks in a timely manner after each storm would be a massive undertaking and cost-prohibitive, frankly."

Ed Neuberg, director of the Denver Commission for People with Disabilities, said clogged sidewalks disrupt the lives of the disabled. After the back-to-back snowstorms last winter, some people were trapped in their homes up to 60 days, he said.

"I share the frustration of the disabled community because one little breakdown of one resident on the block not shoveling their walk can stop somebody from getting to work, getting to the grocery store, the doctor's office, the bus stop," he said.

Snowy sidewalks are also dangerous.

Dr. Vince Markovchick, director of emergency medical services at Denver Health, said heavy snowstorms tend to trigger orthopedic injuries.

"Whenever we have weather like this, we see an increased number of falls and fractures, people slipping on the ice primarily, especially if there's a light coat of snow hiding the ice underneath," he said.

Lucas, an attorney at the Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition, said she hopes businesses and homeowners will make an effort to clean their sidewalks. She said she and several co-workers were unable to get to work Thursday.

chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5099

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