Dear Editor,
The City of Richmond has a social problem. It’s called corporate indulgence of lax city enforcement of the sidewalk bylaw.
The city requires landowners to clear snow from sidewalks in front of their property, but the large number of properties and small number of owners complying is visible to everyone.
The danger — yes, it is dangerous trying to walk on ice — is completely the responsibility of those indifferent and negligent corporations. And, that includes a lot of strata corporations, too.
After a walk downtown Monday, I found a lot of cleared sidewalks near No. 3 Rd. and Westminster Highway, but a few blocks away, very few strata towers, stores, or mall owners had cleared the sidewalks. I’m talking about big names such as McDonald’s Canada, Real Canadian Superstore, Shell Canada, and even our own Kwantlen Polytechnic University.
Isn’t it a condition of a business licence to comply with bylaws? Well, maybe there should be some licence reviews of some of these so-called socially responsible corporations.
By my estimate, the city should write about 7,000 tickets for sidewalk violations.
Will the City of Richmond write any? Take a look, would you?
J. Lloyd
Richmond
