SUN CITY – It’s not only been a frigidly cold year in terms of temperatures reaching below zero somedays, but snowfall has been exceptionally on the heavier side this winter season.
There’s no exaggerating the nuisance this has caused Huntley residents as even the Village of Huntley assistant director of public works and engineering Jason Irvin explained via email, “The Village of Huntley has seen 68% (21.9”) of its average snowfall (32”) in 3-weeks and with the extreme cold and basically no snow melt there is very limited area left to pile snow.”
Some Sun City residents who are trying to maintain certain routines to their livelihoods by means of outdoor walks, are finding that the piles of snow have begun encroaching on some public walkways, making them unusable. This is especially true for detached properties where there appears to be no guidelines or directives in snow removal procedures.
Irvin stated that similarly to how plowing roadways can push snow back onto private driveways, those who hire third-party contractors or find other means to clear residential driveways, also have the unavoidable aspect of pushing snow onto the sidewalks. Though he makes it a point to add that contractors or individuals who remove snow from residential properties, should be mindful of others, by removing snow from the sidewalks in front of the homes as well, seeing as the Village of Huntley does not have an ordinance requiring residents to remove snow from sidewalks.
Illinois takes a similar approach with its Snow and Ice Removal Act where it encourages property owners to remove snow and ice from sidewalks in front of their residential units. Though it is not required and a unit owner cannot be held liable for any injuries caused by said snow and/or ice, regardless of how much effort an individual makes in removing snow and/or ice off of the sidewalks or front of their driveways.
This can cause quite a frustrating issue for owners of detached homes in Sun City as they are often just referred over to the Village of Huntley for any grievances related to obstructions of public infrastructure such as sidewalks.
However, taking a closer look at the Village’s Code of Ordinances under Chapter 70, provision 70.70 prohibits the obstruction of any public street, driveway, curb, gutter, alley, parkway, sidewalk, or other public way by the likes of grass, leaves, yard waste, or snow.
Moving further down into section 70.99, there are penalties listed for provisions that are not followed including a penalty for provision 70.70, which includes a fine of $50.
It’s worth noting that Irvin did say, “The Village has not traditionally enforced the obstruction ordinance as it relates to snow removal in conditions such as we are currently experiencing…The Village has traditionally sought compliance through cooperation and unfortunately the current weather conditions make this difficult for all. We would encourage neighbors to help one another and be considerate of each other and those using the sidewalks.”
Irvin ended his email response by stating that the Village will put out a reminder to registered contractors to remind them of the Village ordinance.
An added point of concern for other Sun City residents is the question to the SCCAH board of directors regarding why there has been a lack of snow removal in certain common walking areas such as those found around Wildflower Lake and neighborhood parks. Residents have cited being told this has been due to no allocation of 2021 budget funds towards this task which can also be seen as a reason in the Jan. 27 SCCAH board meeting minutes.
The meeting minutes also indicate that the snow removal action item has been deferred pending investigation of liability issues and potential insurance premium cost concerns.
SCCAH board president Vito Benigno did not return the Sun Day’s request for comment on the matter. FSR executive director Deanna Loughran responded to the same request with, “I do not have a comment.”
