As of Monday morning, Anne Arundel County officials had not issued any fines to residents who failed to clear their sidewalks.
This despite the County Council passing a bill in December, increasing the fine for residents not shoveling their sidewalks within 48 hours of a big storm to $50 from $10.
The fee for commercial property owners could be as high as $125.
Tracie Reynolds, a spokesperson for the Anne Arundel County Department of Inspections and Permits, said they will revisit whether to issue fines “this week.”
As of Monday morning, Reynolds said, the county had received 63 complaints about sidewalks not being cleared. They were from all throughout the county, with clusters in Glen Burnie and Odenton, she said.
Notably, the resident complaints led to warnings being issued only in one place: White Clover Lane in Odenton, where every single home was given a warning.
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The “majority” of citations were issued Jan. 28, Reynolds said, with more warnings issued the next day. The homes that were cited on Jan. 28 were “actively” clearing snow and ice on Jan. 29, she said.
Maryland is getting a brief reprieve this week from below-freezing temperatures that have made clearing snow and ice difficult.
Because of those conditions, Annapolis temporarily suspended rules requiring homes and businesses to clear sidewalks, before slowly phasing them in.
Commercial enforcement started last week, followed by residential properties with multiple units. Individual residential enforcement began Monday, city officials said.
As of Monday evening, Annapolis had issued a total of 78 warnings to commercial and multi-residential properties, city spokesperson Mitchelle Stephenson said in an email.
Anne Arundel County employees and supplemental contractors hired during the snow season have to clear more than 6,700 roadways over 400 square miles, said Amy Mininger, a spokesperson for the Department of Public Works, in an email.
Because of the snow, ice and extended freezing temperatures, the county had to prioritize which roadways to clear first. If county residents saw plow trucks driving on their roads with the blades up, Mininger said, that could have been because the truck was spreading salt or traveling to a road that was a higher priority to clear.
“Plowing over heavy ice pack without prior salting can sometimes be ineffective or damage equipment,” she wrote.
Annapolis is forecast to see a high temperature for the week of 38 degrees on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
The region could see more snow Tuesday night and Friday — so it appears Punxsutawney Phil was correct.
This article was updated with the number of warnings issued by Annapolis.
The Banner’s Alex Mann contributed to this article.






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