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Heaving a steep fine at slackers who don't shovel snow from their sidewalks is not heavy-handed, Salt Lake City officials insist.

Instead, the new ordinance is intended to deter residents, business owners and landlords from shirking their wintertime civic duty and help keep sidewalks safe.

The new rules mean capital property owners may receive a $50 fine if their sidewalk is not cleared of snow, sleet or hail within 24 hours of a storm. The ticket jumps to $75 after day two and $100 after day three.

"This is the kind of blunt instrument that government has," said City Councilman Luke Garrott, who wrote the stiffer penalties.

First-time offenders will receive warnings, and the city's planning and zoning enforcement staff pledges to use discretion. That applies especially to seniors, disabled people and anyone physically unable to shovel their sidewalks.

But fear persists of City Hall blanketing people with financial penalties.

"Neither of us is able to shovel our walks," resident Chelsea Woodruff told the council, noting her husband is blind and she sometimes uses a wheelchair. "It is often two or three days before the nice, charitable people in our neighborhood get to our walks."

Enforcement officials can provide a list of resources for shoveling help, but warn those agencies often are stretched thin. It may be better, they suggest, to look toward volunteers and neighbors. People planning vacations also should make arrangements or risk multiple citations.

Garrott says the crackdown mainly is aimed at habitual offenders such as landlords and business owners who ignore their buildings after big storms. The 24-hour penalty for more than 200 feet of street footage is $100. That balloons to $150 after two days and $200 after five days.

The current fee that applies to all cases is $75 — $25 if paid within 15 days. No early-payment discount is offered under the new rules.

Mayor Ralph Becker says complaints about snowy walks are not something he hears often. Still, he says, the measure seems to target "egregious" cases and makes the city more pedestrian-friendly.

"If this can help address it, and we can carry out our administrative functions," Becker said, "I'll be fine with it."

At the same time, Becker encourages residents to provide assistance to neighbors in need of help. "We ask everyone to take note of those who live near you, who are physically unable to shovel the snow around their property, and assist them with making safe passage possible on our sidewalks."

Michael Barnes, who said he is an advocate for the disabled, told the council he was impressed with the ordinance. "It's really what we need."

The steeper fees should boost neighborhood consciousness, according to Councilman Carlton Christensen.

But Orion Goff, the city's zoning-enforcement director, warns that policing the sidewalks will pull city resources from other areas. "There may be some junk cars that sit around longer," he said.

"Well," Garrott joked, "they'll be covered in snow."