Fines Over Snow Removal Violations Have Some Residents Seeing Red

GREENPORT, NY — After a recent blizzard walloped the North Fork with two feet of snow, some Greenport residents are outraged over summonses they received for not shoveling the sidewalks in front of their homes fast enough.

Residents are speaking out on social media about being plowed under by fines.

Gwen Groocock, who owns a house in Greenport, said she has to go to Southold Justice Court after being cited. "I think the village has created dangerous situation here. This was a huge blizzard, and it was impossible for some of us to remove the snow within 24 hours as per the code," she said.

Groocock said in front of her house there are 45 -feet of sidewalk, three-feet wide. "With 20 inches of snow, that’s more than 215 cubic feet, which weighs about 3,200 pounds!" she said. "My tenants shoveled enough to get through, but neither they nor I are capable of shoveling a ton and a half of snow. They did the best they could."

To top it off, Groocock said, all the snow removal companies were swamped after Mother Nature's blast of winter. "I couldn’t even get my 80 year-old mother’s house dug out until that Tuesday," she said.

Now, for each day of the violation, Groocock said she faces a possible $250 in fines and 15 days in jail.

"I’m just one of a number of people who have received these court appearance tickets, and are upset. People are saying that the village is being very hostile about this," she said. "Obviously, It’s dangerous for the elderly or those with medical conditions to shovel, but this rash of violations is going to frighten people into trying the next time it snows. We’ll see what happens.”

She added: “Yes, the sidewalks need to be clear for the occasional pedestrian, but they can just be patient while residents struggle to cope with a huge blizzard."

Another woman wrote on social media that elderly, long-time locals were fined, despite their inability to shovel; one elderly woman, she said, was caused a great deal of stress, something the commenter said was "unnecessary and borderline cruel."

Charles Bumble III, a former village employee, said he believes the situation was exacerbated by the fact that there were recent staffers in the road cleanup department that left, and another out due to medical issues, leaving only a few "seasoned staff" to handle the cleanup.

When asked for comment, Greenport Village Mayor George Hubbard told Patch: "We only had three complaints at Village Hall and we contacted all of them about their issues and are working with them," he said. "The code has been on the books since the 80s and has always been enforced to make the sidewalks clear — so people don’t have to walk in the road."

And, Hubbard added: "Tickets didn’t go out until 48 hours after the snow stopped. I hope that everyone would check on their neighbors and family and clear a path to the house in case of emergency so people can get in and out if needed!"

Groocock said the village should have made allowances for the fact that it was an exceptionally large snowfall. And, she said, her ticket was time-stamped at 2:38 p.m. Monday, just a day after the snow stopped falling, not 48 hours later.

"We understand the sidewalks need to be clear but in this case, it simply wasn’t possible for some of us to get it done in time. There was too much snow," she said.