YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- The city’s building and grounds commissioner says he received just one call about the downtown sidewalk conditions, despite several being covered with ice and snow this week (READ RELATED STORY).

The only call Sean McKinney says he has received this winter was from an employee at the Oh Wow! The Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center for Science & Technology. The employee called Monday because the center was having a large group come in and there were concerns about sidewalks used to access the center.  

Under city ordinance, downtown businesses and property owners are responsible for providing “daily snow removal for the full frontage of their place of business.” The requirement is also part of a “memorandum of understanding” the city circulated last year, which states the city will remove snow in front of public buildings and spaces.

Oh Wow! maintains the sidewalk in front of its building. But due to the lack of nearby parking, patrons typically park a block or more away and have to use sidewalks maintained -- or not maintained -- by other downtown businesses and property owners. Suzanne Barbati, the center’s executive director, says she frequently hears complaints from visitors about slippery sidewalk conditions.

“I reiterated to [the Oh Wow! representative] it’s up to the downtown business owners. They’re the ones who are responsible for making sure” sidewalks at the front and surrounding areas of their building are clear, McKinney said. He also told the representative that the street department would make sure the city streets were plowed and the park department would make certain Central Square and crosswalks were addressed, with additional help from Community Corrections Association on sidewalk areas.  

“If it’s situation where say the business owner isn’t taking care of the property, then of course the city would step in and take care of the property but it’s going to be at a cost,” McKinney said.

Those who don’t comply with the requirement to provide snow removal for their properties are subject to a fine of up to $250 and 30 days in jail, Law Director Martin Hume said. In response to complaints, the city would attempt to have the owners voluntarily comply.

“I think it’s done informally at first,” Hume said. Charging someone under the city ordinance “doesn’t seem like something we’d do on a regular basis” but as the “last resort” in a “measured enforcement program.”

Neither Hume nor Prosecutor Dana Lantz said they could recall any instances in which a downtown business or property owner was charged for not complying with the snow removal requirement.

“In general, downtown is a priority, so we have all sorts of things that we try to do as far as picking up the trash [and] making sure that downtown is an attractive place for people to come and visit,” Hume said. “Obviously we’re working on the wayfinding signage program to make downtown even more accessible. So it is a priority.

“But having said that, we do live in Ohio and there’s no way that you’re always going to have 100% of the snow removed,” he continued. “It’s just a fact of winter that there’s snow and ice.”

Among the properties where snow didn’t appear to be removed from the surrounding sidewalks following this week’s storm was the Legal Arts Centre, which is owned by downtown developer and landlord NYO Property Group. The building is unoccupied but Dominic J. Marchionda, NYO’s CEO and a principal in the company, has said there are plans to redevelop the property.

An NYO representative Thursday said Marchionda was out of town; emails to him requesting comment did not receive a response.

Other sidewalks where no action appeared to have been taken were around parking lots operated by ABM Parking Services, including a lot adjacent to City Hall. An ABM spokesman contacted Thursday said his point of contact for the downtown lots was on vacation but he would attempt to get information, which was not received prior to publication of this story.

Copyright 2015 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.
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