“The Chutzpah they have to send a letter like this after their incompetence is unreal,” wrote one resident who received the attached snow removal violation notice.
Another resident submitted the following:
“I don’t know how to deal with this very disturbing way of life. It’s called double standard. We all know we had a very large snow storm this past weekend. I am not going to get involved with the way DPW did or did not handle it. I would like to write about the summons the inspection department were handing out. I have 2 cases to demonstrate my point of double standard.
Case #1: I live on a street that was plowed for the first time on TUESDAY EVENING! Yes, you read correctly, TUESDAY EVENING. I got a summons that was written on Tuesday afternoon that my property was not cleared. Why would I need to shovel my driveway before the street is even plowed? If I spend all the time and energy shoveling before the street is plowed, when the plow comes I need to re-shovel again. Why can the DPW not plow but inspection department give me a summons. Maybe DPW should also get a summons for not plowing the street? That’s what I call double standard!
Case #2: Squankum Road between east 11th & Farm Fresh is owned by the Lakewood Township. For some reason that portion is not shoveled and is causing a MAJOR MAJOR safety hazard with pedestrian traffic forced to walk in the road way. Was any summons issued for that? WHY the double standard? Why do we give summons to our tax paying residents & allow our resident to be put in harms way? Can anyone explain?”
[TLS welcomes your letters by submitting them to [email protected]]
KPICASA_GALLERY(SnowViolationNotice#)
The fact that the town didn’t plow doesn’t mean people don’t have to shovel –
I think that just because the township didn’t do that job that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do our job two wrongs don’t make a right we have to do what we are supposed to do and they have to do what they’re supposed to do.
Two wrongs do not make a right.
Yes the city messed up, but that does not mean you don’t have to follow the rules.
You have no right to decide which rules that you follow.
This is called entitlement.
It’s not about the driveway. It’s about the sidewalks. I see kids walking in dangerous streets to get to their bus stops. Just because the township didn’t clean the streets has nothing to do with one not taking responsibility for their own property, besides the inspection dept is not responsible to make sure streets are clean . People are so self centered!
Just because the township didn’t plow or shovel doesn’t mean that you have a right to put everyone in danger by not shoveling. Everyone should learn a lesson and shovel your sidewalks before you clear out your driveway.
Thanks lakewood township… please enforce this law.
The chutzpah of those who
complain about the township plowing when they’ve never picked up a shovel or purchased a bag of salt in their life is astounding!
imagine a loved one got hit by a car because the area around your house was not shoveled properly… No excuses
If a retraction letter and apology is not sent to every resident who received this letter then it’s time for a rally in town square. I was stuck in my house till Tuesday with no access to any roadway. My sidewalks AND my street were equally occupied by 2 ft of snow until that time. Who would dare send out such a letter after what transpired. The gall!
@LakewoodScoop please publicize the names of these “lakewood residents” so we all know who to stay away from. I can only imagine the other laws that they are rationalizig in their minds right now that they feel that they can break. They are a danger to the public.
I actually cleared my sidewalk, however it was all dumped back on when they finally came by on Tuesday. So please don’t lecture me about cleaning my walkway. I’m not throwing out my back again cleaning it twice due to the Townships incompetence!
Ranaq, cars couldnt drive so no worries! Please publish who ranaq is so we can get him a professional evaluation!
Finally. It’s time someone shakes up the homeowners who work so hard to clear their driveway but ignore the needs of pedestrians who need to walk safely on the sidewalks. It’s no big deal to shovel a path in the snow when it’s freshly fallen. A lot easier than a driveway and car. It’s a miracle no one was hurt walking in the icy street together with the cars. Common decency .
Guys cool your horses. Imagine shoveling and then the plow comes and covers your sidewalk with hard ice and hard snow. That’s exactly what happened to me. In shoveled and the plow came and covered my entire sidewalk with ice and hard snow. I was not able to clean that up as its impossible to move that snow.
The Township is not responsible for YOUR Sidewalks you are still responsible for that..the township does the streets or is supposed to anyway..
What about all the walking paths in the park? I’m unable to do my jogging because they are not clear?
How selfish. The town didn’t do their job so I can put all of my neighbors at risk by making then walk in the street! That’ll teach them not to plow my street…
I would have shoveled my sidewalk if I don’t have to shovel the street.
You people miss the point, “Even” if the inspection dept has a right to ticket, and assuming the homeowner should have cleared the sidewalk the inspection dept can not legally give out tickets unless they ticket everyone in lakewood with a blocked sidewalk. Case law in this country dictates the law has to be enforced evenly to all if it is not then the summons or arrest must be thrown out. Another example if say 100 people protest against marijuana being illegal go to town square and they all light up a joint, the cops cant arrest everyone so they grab 5 people and arrest them, you know what? those 5 people must be released and not charged because everyone in the group wasnt arrested
@yatmach “Guys cool your horses” – Dont think you would be saying the same if your loved was hit by a car; because someone rationalized that they are special and have a good reason not to shovel their property..
@1256 where does the law say that? Please provide link to this so called “law”.
I so agree to what 1256 wrote.the point is not if the person is right for not shoveling their sidewalk, the point is,it is a chutzpah for the Township to give tickets out when they themselves are not doing what they should be doing especially in regards to public safety.
Stop kvetching. Start shoveling. Where does halach come into play regarding shoveling? Putting people into danger…
How do we give the township a violation for not cleaning the snow
@Canada – please dont be silly. Once again, you would not be talking this way if your loved one was hit by a car.
I agree that you still have to clear sidewalks even if township didn’t plow yet but the Township should have 2 cents not to ticket people when they themselves were completely incompetent in plowing this time around. Can we give Township a ticket? Can we get a Tax break??
We don’t plow -Township gets more $ into their coffers.
Township doesn’t plow – nothing happens.
That’s not so fair, that’s what the person is saying.
Hey everyone relax just think of it as a fund raiser for the township DPW.
Maybe they will use the money to buy bigger trucks that can actually handle a snowfall of this size, just saying.
So 1256, let me get this streight. If I get pulled over on the parkway and ticketed, the judge will throw out the ticket because all other drivers weren’t ticketed? You better go back to law school and stop smoking those joints in town square!
And for those complaining that the plow come by and reburies your sidewalk, this happens everywhere after every snow storm. Deal with it! No excuses!
To all kvetchers about plow dumping it back on, what if there was another storm predicted, you would say that there is no point shoveling, because G-d is dumping more snow anyways?
Absurd!!!!
Public sidewalks have still not been cleared how could they require private sidewalks to be cleaned!!!!!
I shoveled my walk for couple hours than the Township showed up and dumped 5’of snow on it!!!!! What now???
I couldn’t buy a shovel my street was not plowed!!!
All along Kennedy and along county line is twp side walks and none of it was plowed & very dangerous for pedestrians
I had to walk on New Hempshare Ave pass the Dizo park because the town did not clean the sidewalk. It was very dangerous with cars pasing by at hi speed. Give the town a ticket for not cleening that sidewalk.
I shoveled my snow in front of my home..the law is the law.
I tried shoveling my sidewalk but couldn’t. The township dumped a pile of ice 2 ft high on the sidewalk as they cleaned the street. I tried chipping away at it but I just can’t!
Wow. Lot of folks missing the point. Home owner shovels the sidewalk and then the township comes and dumps 3 feet (or more) of iced snow back onto the side walk. With things the way they were it’s not so unreasonable that sidewalks weren’t shoveled until after the roads were plowed. There is no danger of passing cars as the roads are still snowed in. It’s unreasonable to expect people to shovel out soon and after the storm and again a second time to shovel out heavy snow dumped from the street by the township. Some people physically can’t do it. Besides, right or wrong for not shoveling, the issue is whether the township should be issuing summons to residents in light of their atrocious cleanup. It is indeed a double standard.
The displayed documents are violation notices not summonses. The notices were issued in response to complaints. Would you prefer that the Inspection Department not enforce ordinances?
Anon how dare you ssy you couldn’t shovel your side walk, when you were one of the first to comment, THE LAW IS THE LAW… HA I guess it’s the law until it comes to You…
I agree with jbw.
One of the first orders of the day is shoveling the walkways, sidewalks, etc. which is what I did.
Then, the front loaders came and – granted they did a decent job but – DUMPED ALL THE SNOW ON TO THE SIDEWALKS!
I would assume, and it also sounds like from the language of the violation, that you are only responsible to remove snow that falls, not snow that others dumped on your property. It is their responsibility to remove that. Therefore if the trucks dumped snow on your property, have the inspection department ticket them.
Reboot rambo, so you do it again! It’s very simple math. Do you want to shovel 2 feet of snow then get a brake. Then the plow come and deal with 3 feet of ice. Or deal with both at once?
Feter, there are a few people that posted with the name anon… but I did have the same issue as anon and guess what I did? I SHOVELED AGAIN
Everyone, GROW UP!!! Clean your sidewalks. Start caring for your neighbors and shovel/salt AS OFTEN AS NECESSARY!
It’s not about the township. Its being lazy and even more it’s not caring what happens to the next person.
You don’t realize just how many selfish people there are. They could spend hours on their huge driveway and completely ignore the sidewalks….
slight problem with this story…how did they come to issue the summons if they cant get down your non-plowed street ?