Many of the sidewalks along 104 in Oswego have not been touched in over a week.
/ Alex Resila
OSWEGO -- Oswego is confused as to how they should be digging out of the snow. One woman e-mailed us a picture yesterday to inform us about the snowbanks that have been piling up on top of the newly developed area in eastern Oswego. Much of the new sidewalk along 104 as you approach Price Chopper and Wal Mart is covered in snow. This makes it impossible for a pedestrian to pass through without stepping into as much as three feet of snow. This has made the occasional resident have to walk dangerously along 104 while going to their next destination.
Much of this issue started after the construction ended last year. These are new sidewalks and everyone needs to be informed how they can go about dealing with them now. Most businesses along the road were not sure who needed to take care of the snow.
The City Code Enforcement department said the responsibility lies in the hands of the property owners, not the tenants or the city. A letter has been sent to all parties affected. Director of Code Enforcement for the City of Oswego, Neal Smith said, "The letters that have gone out are just informational letters at this point, nobody has been cited. We understand that these businesses will be receiving these letters at various times, some of the corporate headquarters are not in central New York, so we have to give them an opportunity to understand they have a new obligation."
Smith went on to tell CNY Central's Alex Resila, "These retail centers are well off the street. They don't understand and I'm sure they will when they get the letters that the responsibility to maintain the sidewalk is theirs, even though their commercial enterprise could be two or three hundred yards off the road and the majority of their customers come by vehicle, (but) there still is pedestrian access newly created as it were."
Many of the complexes on that stretch of 104 are owned by Widewaters, out of Dewitt. Oswego Code enforcement says the company plans to be out within the week to clear up the portion of sidewalk that they are responsible for.
