Urbana will now require property owners in portions of campus, downtown Urbana and Philo Road to remove snow from their sidewalks for accumulations exceeding two inches. The ordinance, passed by the Urbana City Council at its Monday meeting, will use these areas as tests for a possible citywide ordinance in the future.

“What we’re trying to do is get the public to give us some input on this, rather than just passing something that’s citywide — to start in a small area and work out the problems,” said Mayor Laurel Prussing at the Nov. 28 council meeting. “We realize that in some areas there is very heavy pedestrian traffic, and so that’s where we’re starting.”

The ordinance requires that property owners clear their sidewalks within 24 hours of notification by the director of public works.

In the case of heavy snow or snow storms, the 24-hour requirement would be put on hold until the weather improved, and the city completed snow plowing.

Under the ordinance, property owners will be required to clear a path at least 48 inches wide or only the width of their sidewalk if it is smaller. Should a property owner fail to remove his or her snow within the 24-hour period, he or she would be given a one-time warning along with another 24 hours to comply. Further noncompliance would require the city to contract snow removal crews. Property owners would then be charged with the contracting costs, a $55 administrative fee and a public nuisance fee that begins at $25, increasing up to $500 for five or more offenses.

Urbana’s ordinance is similar to Champaign’s, which it has had since November 2007, but the major difference is that Urbana allows 24 hours for compliance whereas Champaign allows 48.

Bart Hagston, environmental sustainability manager, said Prussing felt 24 hours is “adequate notice” for property owners. He added that snowplows typically take 24 hours to near “substantial completion,” essentially giving property owners a total of 48 hours to clear their sidewalks.

The ordinance will only be enforced between 6 a.m. and 5 p.m. from Monday through Friday, excluding state and federal holidays.

Ryan Welch, grounds superintendent for Facilities and Services at the University, said this ordinance will not change the University’s ongoing snow-removal operations. He said that even for snowfalls less than two inches, grounds crews pretreat sidewalks with a liquid brine solution to help prevent snow and ice formation and then shovel all University sidewalks.

He added that this ordinance would, however, affect private properties that the University is not allowed to plow.

“We technically can’t remove snow from a private sidewalk,” Welch said.

He said Wesley United Methodist Church is one such property.

“That one tends to always be under quite a bit of snow,” he said.

Ron McClellan, maintenance worker for the church, spoke to city council members at their Nov. 28 meeting. He said he was “hoping the city would be under advisement that certain areas don’t work” under the ordinance.

He noted that the church — the only private property on Green Street between Wright Street and Lincoln Avenue — has sidewalks that receive a large amount of snow because they are next to the street without separation. He said the retaining wall between the church’s lawn and the sidewalk, along with two lanes’ worth of snow accumulation, makes it “a real hassle” to keep the sidewalks clear.

Rich Coyne, operations manager for Urbana, said it might be possible for the city to hire extra help or pay overtime hours in order to assist with problematic areas.

Council members carried a motion to revisit the ordinance in May for further discussion about the possible expansion of the targeted districts.

“There are (some city laws) that say ‘every sidewalk,’ and others — which I think Urbana would be like — would depend on what is the need in that neighborhood,” Prussing said.