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Council presses code and public works after storm; 11 violations issued for snow and ice
Summary
Yeadon officials reported 11 violations for failure to clear snow and ice after a recent storm; council members pressed the code and public works departments for a plan to address shared driveways and potential abatement, requiring staff to respond by the next day.
Council members and staff in Yeadon debated how and when the borough would enforce property maintenance rules after a winter storm left streets and shared driveways iced.
Clara Johnson, a resident who raised an eyesore property at Bullock and Whitby Avenue in public comment, also asked about snow and ice removal. “That’s all I have to say,” she told the council about the property; code staff and public works acknowledged they were investigating.
The borough’s code department reported 76 property-maintenance violations and 28 citations for December and said it issued 11 violations for properties that failed to remove snow and ice after the recent storm. The department said follow-up inspections found two properties still covered in ice and that citations for those properties would be issued.
Vice President Liana Rokloud pressed staff for a firm plan and a fast response. She asked, “Can we get an ETA?” and then specified a deadline: “Within the next week, we'll have it made and, the process will be started.” Later in the exchange she told staff she wanted a response by 11:59 a.m. the next day, saying the situation posed a public-safety hazard if left unaddressed.
Code staff said the borough has a 24-hour requirement to clear snow and ice once a storm ends and that shared driveways are subject to the same code obligations. Officials said staffing shortages and a deep freeze that turned snow to ice had complicated enforcement and response.
Council members and public-works staff discussed the mechanics of abatement: borough staff generally must issue a citation before the borough can abate and charge a property owner, but council members said they would consider emergency abatement if public safety required immediate action.
No new ordinance was adopted at the meeting. Instead, the council directed staff to prioritize shared-driveway inspections, proceed with the pending citations, and provide a written plan to vice president Rokloud by the stated deadline.
