Wenatchee Valley Rules on Snow Removal

As the Wenatchee Valley enters the teeth of winter and snow storms make their way through our area, local jurisdictions are reminding property owners of their responsibilities regarding snow removal.

East Wenatchee Community Development Director Lori Barnett said snow and ice must be removed from the sidewalk within 24 hours.

"The tenant or owner of the property is responsible for the sidewalks all along the property frontage." explained Barnett, "The other thing is, we do have a requirement that they can't put it out in the street, so it has to be stored somewhere on the property."

The rule applies to both residential and commercial property owners. If the removal is not done, the city will provide the owner or tenant with a reminder. The City of Wenatchee follows almost identical rules.

Wenatchee Code Enforcement Officer Lance Merz said if someone is unable to remove their snow themselves, they can call the their office and someone from code enforcement will come out to the property.

"We will ensure the person is in fact elderly or disabled and can't perform that task." Merz said, "Then we'll hand them a list of volunteers, and they will call up one of those people on the list and hopefully they will get their snow removed."

If the sidewalk is still slick after the snow's removal, or a re-freeze has occurred later on, property owners are required to put down ice melt or sand to make the route passable.