Casper council discusses snow-removal strains, targeted ordinance to curb commercial snow dumping

The Casper City Council on April 8 reviewed this winter’s snow-removal operations, hearing that crews responded to many small events and used more deicer than in recent years while struggling with large windrows created by private property plows.

City Manager Carter opened the briefing and introduced Casey Lynch, a street supervisor, who described operational priorities and what the city counts as a snow event. Lynch said crews separate routes into classes — emergency and critical routes (Class A), collectors and arterials (Class B) and residential streets (Class C) — and that the city treats even small accumulations as separate events when crews must respond. “We’ve used quite, quite a large amount, tons of that this year,” Lynch said of deicer use.

Why this matters: council members raised concerns that private commercial plows and lot operations create “monster” windrows that block travel lanes, impede drainage and force the city to spend staff time and money scooping and hauling snow. City Attorney Tom told council the municipality currently relies on a general obstruction ordinance and state statute for authority but lacks a clear, specific city ordinance regulating where businesses may place or store plowed snow. Tom summarized the municipal code provision: “the only ordinance we currently have is 12.24 0.03 sidewalk obstructions prohibited,” and said an older, more specific requirement from the 1980s was not carried forward during recodification.

Parks and Recreation staff described how sidewalk and park-amenity clearing is prioritized. A parks representative, Sylvia, said the division operates three priority tiers for city facilities and that some park sidewalks fall into a lower tier because of limited staff and equipment. She said the department had elevated Washington Park and Conwell Park to higher priority this season in response to complaints.

Council members asked how often code enforcement has charged property owners for placing snow in the right-of-way; staff said they were not aware of any recent enforcement actions and that enforcement typically begins with outreach and cooperative compliance rather than immediate citations. Councilor Sweeney said she was surprised by the city’s higher deicer use this year and asked for clarification on what constitutes a snow event; Lynch answered that the city classifies each mobilization as an event and sometimes treats small icing or minor accumulations as separate events that require treatment.

On the policy response, councilors discussed keeping specific plots available for snow disposal versus promoting infill development. Carter and staff said they would explore options with Planning and Zoning but cautioned that reserving land for snow disposal can conflict with long-term development goals. Several councilors emphasized the immediate public-safety rationale for restricting commercial dumping into travel lanes and for ensuring school-zone sidewalks are cleared.

Outcome and next steps: council members agreed — by general consent — to direct Eric and city staff to draft a narrowly tailored ordinance focused on commercial properties or repeated offenders that create safety or operational burdens for snow removal, and to return with specific language and enforcement options. No formal ordinance was adopted at the meeting.

Ending: Councilors closed the discussion by thanking street and parks crews for the season’s work and asking staff to craft options that balance enforcement, operational cost and development priorities.