Complaints & Snow Piling Up On St. Augusta’s Sidewalks

The St. Augusta City Council met for the first time in 2026 last night, and one of the longer portions of the two-hour meeting revolved around snow removal, or the lack thereof, on some St. Augusta neighborhood sidewalks.

Complaints Piling Up After Recent Snow Storms

Towards the end of Tuesday night's City Council meeting, the topic of ordinance enforcement was brought up for discussion. After the last few snowstorms, Mayor Schmitz has been contacted by residents concerned about the lack of snow removal in two specific neighborhoods in St. Augusta.

Blackberry Farms and Emerald Ponds, two residential neighborhoods located along County Road 7, were where a majority of complaints were made about unshoveled/cleared sidewalks.

Most of the complaints centered around empty lots, where no one lives, that weren't being cleared promptly after a snow event. The council at its next workshop, January 20th, is expected to look at ways to enforce sidewalk snow removal, as the current ordinance, 2007-17, states that residents have 24 hours from the end of the snow event to clear their sidewalks of snow and ice.

"All snow and ice remaining upon public sidewalks is hereby declared to constitute a public nuisance and shall be abated by the owner or tenant of the abutting private property within 24 hours after such snow or ice has ceased to be deposited."

What Will Enforcement Look Like?

The question the council will have to think about is how enforcement of unshoveled sidewalks will work. Several members felt that enforcement should be complaint-driven versus having city employees driving around after a snow event looking for violations.

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Right now, the ordinance reads that if, after 24 hours, the sidewalk isn't cleared, the city may come in and clear the sidewalk at the cost of the resident, with the costs being assessed onto the property taxes.

"The City Clerk shall, upon direction of the Council, and on receipt of the information provided for in the preceding Section, extend the cost of such removal of snow or ice as a special assessment against the lots or parcel of ground abutting on walks which were cleared, and such special assessments shall at the time of certifying taxes to the County Auditor be certified for collection as other special assessments are certified and collected."

Other Council Business Last Night

Discussion around low-potency THC and whether or not to require interim use permits for businesses selling low-potency THC (gummies/beverages), this was tabled until the next meeting.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, residents questioned and expressed frustration surrounding the approval of an agricultural building being built along County Road 7, which was initially denied and had a stop-work order attached to it.

*The author, Paul Shea, is a member of St. Augusta's Planning Commission.

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