Photo by Deb Gau Jason Anderson, assistant city engineer, discussed proposed updates to Marshall city ordinances on Wednesday. If approved, the ordinance changes would require property owners to remove snow from privately-owned streets.

MARSHALL — Under existing city ordinances in Marshall, property owners can find themselves facing a bill from the city if they don’t shovel sidewalks. And if proposed changes to the ordinances get approved by the Marshall City Council, the same would apply to private streets.

At Wednesday night’s council meeting, proposed updates to city ordinances on snow and ice removal were introduced. The council called for a public hearing on the matter Feb. 12.

Assistant city engineer Jason Anderson presented the proposed ordinance changes to the council. Marshall’s current ordinances call for property owners next to public sidewalks to clear snow and ice from the sidewalks within 12 hours after the snow stops. If the sidewalks still aren’t cleared after a day, the city can remove the snow and bill the property owner. If the bill isn’t paid, the city can make a special assessment against the property for the costs.

“However, snow on private streets is not addressed, despite it being a health and safety hazard, and the city receiving numerous complaints,” Anderson said. State statutes give cities the authority to remove snow from private streets as well as public sidewalks.

The proposed ordinance changes would include privately-owned streets in Marshall as areas which would need to be cleared of snow. Properties surrounding the private street could be billed or assessed for snow removal if the city had to step in. The proposal also said the snow removal ordinance would not require property owners to do more than what the city does for snow and ice removal on city streets and sidewalks on city property.

Other key changes in the proposed ordinances include that snow and ice on sidewalks and streets are declared a public health and safety hazard instead of a nuisance. Anderson said other updates would be made to reflect how the city actually enforces the snow ordinances. If a bill for snow removal costs isn’t paid within 30 days, the city will hold a public hearing before assessing the costs to property owners.

“I think we need to clarify what a private street is before this is approved,” council member James Lozinski said. Lozinski said he would also like to see the city consider a more realistic time frame for snow removal in the ordinance.

“There’s cases where the city isn’t even done pushing snow after 12 hours,” he said.

Council member Craig Schafer said he hoped city staff would exercise discretion in how the proposed ordinance was applied to private streets.

“If you’re the only one on (a private street), it’s your driveway,” and it would be up to the individual property owner to clear the snow, Schafer said. “But I can think of other settings where there are private streets where there’s a number of individuals living there that require the access … and that becomes an issue. That’s no different than a public street.”

Schafer said it wasn’t likely that the city would be going around looking for ordinance violations after a snowfall.

Marshall City Attorney Dennis Simpson recommended that city staff look into finding a definition for private streets, and bring suggestions back to the council.

Council members voted to hold a public hearing on the proposed ordinance changes on Feb. 12.