No Savesies | Snow removal guidelines from local municipalities

Here are snow removal reminders from local municipalities. Remember, no savesies.

Borough of Conshohocken

Snow Removal Reminders:

  1. Cones, lawn chairs or any other property or device are not to be used to hold or reserve parking spaces during the storm. The Borough street crew WILL NOT stop to remove any property or device used to reserve a space.
  2. Per the Borough of Conshohocken Code, the property owner is responsible for removing all snow and/or ice from his or her sidewalks. The pathway should be at least 36 inches in width along the entire length of the sidewalk and shall be removed within 24 hours after snow has ceased to fall, or the ice to form.
  3. No person in removing snow or ice from public sidewalks may shovel, throw, plow or otherwise move snow or ice into the public street.
  4. No person may move snow and ice from the public street in front of his or her property to another portion of public street fronting another property.

Plymouth Township

Residents are asked to remember the following to get through the winter season safely:

  • Use off-street parking when snow is predicted. When you park your car in the driveway there’s less snow to shovel.
  • On-street parking, where no off-street parking is available, is only permitted on one side of the street. In an odd year parking is only permitted on the odd-numbered side of the street.
  • Don’t park near storm drains, so crews can clear snow and ice to avoid flooding from the melting runoff.
  • When shoveling your driveway, pile snow to the right. This will prevent the plow from covering your driveway opening again.
  • Property owners are required to clear their sidewalks at least 30 inches wide within 36 hours after the snow stops.
  • Residents are reminded that it is unlawful to park or abandon a car on any street any time within twelve hours after a snowfall of three inches or more, where off-street parking exists. Vehicles parked otherwise are subject to removal at the owner’s expense.
  • Any motor vehicle parked, stalled, incapable of moving under its own power, or left unattended upon any public street or highway in the Township at any time within twelve hours after a snowfall of three inches or more has occurred may be removed or towed to another location by the Police Department.
  • Don’t shovel or plow snow into the street. The plows will just move it back onto your driveway or sidewalk.
  • Think Safety! Never approach moving snow removal equipment. Just because you can see the driver doesn’t mean he can see you. We try to keep our crews fresh and rested, but extended weather emergencies can mean long hours for Township employees. Please keep children and pets off the streets as much as possible.
  • If there’s a fire hydrant by your home consider adopting it! You know where it is; if it’s obscured by snow, fire companies responding to emergencies may not find it. Clearing the snow from the hydrant helps protect you and your neighbors.

Snow Plowing

Our goal is to have all township and state roads clear within 15-20 hours after the snow has stopped falling. In order for this to occur, however, we need your cooperation. The public works crews plow 48 miles of Township roads and 17 miles of state road. This translates into over 150 lane miles to clear – not an easy task!

If you have off-street parking such as a driveway please use it. Please stack cars closely in your driveway and refrain from parking on the street. This will help our crews better clear and negotiate your street. Please do not throw snow back into the street while shoveling or cleaning off cars. This slows and impedes our operations and the plows will have to clear it again. This also violates Ordinance #1540. This Ordinance prohibits throwing, shoveling, or plowing snow onto highways, streets or roads in Plymouth Township.

Ideally, don’t shovel the end of your driveway until the plows have finished with your street. Remember, all plows are angled to discharge snow to the curb on the right. It is impossible to plow the streets without the plow being angled.

Primary roads will be cleared first, followed by secondary streets and finally residential streets and cul-de-sacs. Residential street plowing will not begin until the snow stops falling. The reason for this is that our main focus and priority is keeping the main roads passable and clear while the snow is falling. We cannot concentrate our crews in the residential neighborhoods while the snow is falling because the main roads would become dangerous and potentially impassable.

Remember, the public works crews will put in long hard hours clearing the streets…..so please be patient and courteous.

Borough of West Conshohocken

§ 99-1 Snow and ice.

A. Unlawful acts.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any owner or lessee of any property to allow or permit snow or ice to lie upon, remain upon or be piled or accumulated upon a sidewalk within the Borough, upon which such property abuts, for more than 24 hours.
(2) It shall further be unlawful for any owner of an apartment to allow or permit snow or ice to lie upon, remain upon or be piled or accumulated upon any walkway used by residents of the apartment or upon any paved surface used for ingress, egress or parking of motor vehicles for more than 24 hours.
B. Clearing of pathways.
(1) It shall be the duty of the property owner or the lessee of the same, not later than 24 hours after snow has ceased to fall, to clear or cause to be cleared a pathway in the sidewalk upon which said property abuts. Such pathway shall not be less than 30 inches in width and shall be thoroughly cleaned of snow and ice or other obstruction to that extent.
(2) It shall be the duty of the owner of any apartment within the Borough, not later than 24 hours after snow has ceased to fall, to clear or cause to be cleared a pathway in any walkway within the apartment complex. Such pathway shall be not less than 30 inches in width and shall be thoroughly cleaned of snow and ice or other obstruction to that extent.
(3) It shall be the duty of the owner of any apartment within the Borough, not later than 24 hours after snow has ceased to fall, to clear or cause to be cleared any paved surface used for ingress, egress or parking of motor vehicles. Such paved surface shall be thoroughly cleaned of snow and ice or other obstruction.
C. Placement of snow; fire hydrants.
(1) Snow or ice removed from sidewalk areas shall be placed on the property of the owner, adjacent to the removal area. Excessive amounts of snow or ice may be placed in the area between the sidewalk and the curbline but not in the street. If the snow and ice is frozen so hard that it cannot be removed without injury to the pavement or damaging the base of the footpath, the owner of the property shall cause the sidewalk abutting or adjacent to such property to be strewn with ashes, sand, sawdust or any suitable abrasive material and shall, as soon thereafter as the weather shall permit, thoroughly clean such sidewalks.
(2) Fire hydrants shall not be covered with snow or ice.
(3) It shall be unlawful to throw, shovel or plow snow into or upon any roads and streets within the Borough with the intent of allowing such snow to remain on such roads and streets.
D. Removal by Borough; costs. In any case where the owner, occupant or tenant, as aforesaid, shall fail, neglect or refuse to comply with any of the provisions of this section within the time limit prescribed therein, the Borough may proceed immediately to clear all snow and/or ice from the sidewalk of such delinquent party and to collect the expenses thereof, with any additional amount allowed by law, from said owner, occupant or tenant, as the case may be, which may be in addition to any fine or penalty imposed by this section.
E. Parking during and after snowfall and snow emergencies.
(1) Whenever there shall be any snowfall, or if the state or Borough shall declare a snow emergency upon snow emergency routes, no on-street parking of vehicles shall be permitted.
(2) Any time a snow emergency shall be deemed to be in effect by virtue of the foregoing provisions, such emergency shall continue to exist until such time as the state or Borough shall declare that the snow emergency has been terminated.
(3) During any snowfall or any snow emergency which has been declared throughout the Borough, it shall be unlawful to park any vehicle on any street within the Borough until the snow has been completely plowed for the full width of the cartway, except on those streets within the Borough where only on-street parking is available.
F. Unattended motor vehicles. It shall be unlawful for any motor vehicle to be left parked, stalled, incapable of moving under its own power or left unattended on any street or road within this Borough in violation of the provisions of this section, and in addition to the penalties hereinafter provided for such violation, any such motor vehicle may be removed and/or impounded by the Borough.
G. Violations and penalties. In addition to those violations and remedies detailed herein, any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision of this section shall, upon conviction thereof, be subject to pay a fine of not more than $1,000 per day of violation. Each day that a violation of this section continues shall constitute a separate offense.

Whitemarsh Township

Snow Removal Regulations

As soon as snow or freezing rain begins, the Highway Department starts salting and applying cinders on township roads. Snow plowing begins when the snow depth reaches 3 – 4 inches.

Many of our main roadways, such as Germantown Pike, Joshua Road, Ridge Pike, North Lane, Cedar Grove Road, Skippack Pike, Bethlehem Pike, Pennsylvania Avenue, Stenton Avenue, Flourtown Road, Militia Hill Road and Butler Pike are not maintained by the Township as these roads are owned and maintained by PennDOT or Montgomery County.

To assist with snow and ice removal, the Township Code requires all vehicles to be parked off-street when snow reaches a depth of 3 to 4 inches requiring plowing. Residents and businesses without sufficient off-street parking are required to adhere to the following schedule:

  • In even numbered calendar years (2016, 2018 etc.), parking is permitted on the side of the street with even numbered addresses.
  • In odd numbered calendar years (2017, 2019 etc.), parking is permitted on the side of the street with odd numbered addresses.
  • On streets with permanent parking restrictions (No Parking Here To Corner, No Parking, etc.), the permanent restrictions shall prevail.