KALAMAZOO (WKZO AM/FM) –It’s too late for this season, but the Kalamazoo City Commission has voted to decriminalize the shoveling of sidewalks and turn failure to clear sidewalks into a civil matter.
City Attorney Clyde Robinson says it’s part of a larger effort to decriminalize other city rules and regulations so fewer citizens have black marks on their records as they go through life.
At the same time Mayor Bobby Hopewell asked that the public utilities department start providing metrics on how well city staff is clearing sidewalks on city property.
He says it’s only fair that they do what they are insisting resident do. In the future, you could get a ticket for failure to clear your sidewalk…but chronic failures will no longer be a criminal offense.
