If it's snowing in Laureldale, better shovel the grass

In most Berks County municipalities you must remove snow from your sidewalks 24 hours after the snow stops falling.
But in Laureldale, you now must also remove snow from your lawn.
Failure to do so will result in a $111 fine.
“It’s an existing ordinance and it’s pretty much boilerplate language,” said Osmer S. Deming, borough solicitor. “It’s just never been enforced.”
Ordinance 182 was adopted by borough council in 1962 and contains the 24-hour time limit to clear sidewalks. It also sets forth what constitutes a sidewalk, Deming said.
The ordinance says sidewalks “shall also mean any unimproved or ground surface area ... fronting on a street within the curbline. ...”
Deming said though the ordinance has been on the books for 47 years, it has not been enforced — until now.
Gary Lutz, 2300 Montrose Ave., said he was one of the first victims of the borough’s new lawn-shoveling police.
Lutz said he uses a snowblower to clear the sidewalk in front of his house.
On the south side of his property his lawn abuts a dead-end street. There is a curb but no sidewalk.
A strict interpretation of the ordinance requires Lutz to remove snow from the lawn that abuts the street.
“The ticket says ‘Resident failed to shovel grass,’ ” Lutz said.
Lutz said he was fined $50 plus $61 in costs.
“I honestly didn’t know what to think,” Lutz said. “I thought it was a little crazy.”
Lutz said he actually doesn’t have a problem running his snowblower across the lawn if the borough wants him to, but he can’t understand why.
“I don’t think they thought this through,” he said.
Lutz said he has appealed the citation and has a hearing scheduled this afternoon before District Judge Dean R. Patton of Muhlenberg Township.
“I’ve lived in this borough for 15 years and nobody ever told me I had to shovel my lawn,” Lutz said. “I think at the very least I deserved a warning.”
Lutz said he never had been cited before by the borough, considers himself a good neighbor and wants to clear his record.