Snow's the issue

OSBURN ­— With Old Man Winter hitting the Silver Valley hard over the New Year, local snowplows have been out in force attempting to keep up with the massive workload. As many may have noticed on social media — and perhaps in passing conversations — the sight of a snowplow heading toward your home could either fill you with delight or dread possibly both. On one hand, that snowplow will be clearing the roadway near your house so you and other motorists can use it. On the other, that same plow may bury you in your drive way or parking space and leave you hacking away at the newly formed mountain of snow, ice, and slush.

A now-deleted post on the Silver Valley Classifieds Facebook page even claimed last week that “someone had plowed and made it to where the mailman could not get in” at a residence in Pinehurst. The accompanying photo showed a large mound of snow in front of a home, giving the viewer the assumption that a mailbox was buried under it. The post ended with the author saying that they were going to “take action” if the problem wasn’t resolved.

Getting ‘snowed in’ is a common nuisance where we live; one that nothing can really be done about except maybe curse a little while you clear away snow. But the many complaints and the aforementioned post in particular got us at the News-Press thinking — is there any legal ground for those upset with being snowed in? Perhaps an obscure law that states plows can’t do that or have to clear the berm that they just created? Unfortunately it seems, the answer is mostly no.

The laws and statues regarding snow removal are mostly dictated on the local level, so they are free to designate who is and who is not responsible for removing the cumbersome stuff. Detailed out in Idaho Statue 67-2350 entitled “SNOW REMOVAL RESPONSIBILITIES,” it states that:

“(1) No county, city or highway district shall be responsible for the removal of snow on roads in the county, city or highway district over which they have no jurisdiction.

(2) The county, city or highway district may keep a list of any persons or entities that are interested in providing snow removal on private roads as a source of information for the public and shall provide to interested citizens the names of those individuals on a rotating basis.

(3) Notwithstanding the limitations imposed by this section, if no private persons are available or if they refuse to provide snowplowing to interested citizens, a county, city or highway district may provide the service for which the county, city or highway district may require reimbursement.”

Statute 49-619, regarding slow moving vehicles on highways, briefly mentions the issue by stating that snow removal vehicles operated by the state are exempt from slow driving laws.

On the local level here in the Silver Valley, the laws and procedures don’t give much help to the resident either. Shoshone County Sheriff’s Office Captain Jeremy Groves explains that although the rules differ from city to city and even county residences, “road crews have the right to plow and remove snow from roadways. During this process to clear roadways, everyone ends up with roll off in front of driveways or along parked vehicle’s which falls on the vehicle or homeowner to remove.”

The Kellogg Police Department has even mentioned that they are currently conducting “Dead Head patrols,” or the process of tagging vehicles for snow removal, in their recent Roll Call.

Kellogg city employee Rod Plank recognizes that plows creating berms and the responsibility of clearing them falling to the resident can be a pain, but its really the only option considering the limitations and priorities of the plows.

Since they do not have the ability to clear each driveway they pass by or control where the snow piles up on the sides, it essentially comes down to the choice of plowed streets and a berm, or snow filled streets and no berm.

Even in the rarer cases of snow blocking trash cans or mailboxes, it appears that the only thing that can be done is to dig it out.

The only exceptions to these snow-combating obligations may include the responsibility falling to a landlord or property owner, such as the case with many rental properties.

For comparison to other Idaho towns, Bosie city code 9-08-07 states that “the owner of a building (home, business, church, etc) is to keep their sidewalks clear of snow every day.”

Though this does not mention driveways or roads, it is certainly another example of folks being in charge of their own snow removal.

With more snow likely to come, the KPD asks that residents “please move your vehicles so the snow plows can come and remove the snow.”