With Sunday’s snow and temperatures well-below freezing this week, unshoveled sidewalks have become a hazard for people walking around. The clock started ticking at 6 a.m. on Monday, Jan. 20. That’s when city officials say the snowfall ended. Property owners and tenants had until Noon that day to clear their sidewalks. Otherwise, they could face a fine. But, two days later some sidewalks are still coated in snow or ice. More than 36 hours after the snowfall stopped, the city’s sanitation SWEEP team was out looking for unshoveled sidewalks in Graduate Hospital. “We are checking the blocks to make sure the streets are safe as far as people to walk,” Elaine Thomas, of SWEEP, said. If they weren’t, SWEEP inspector Elaine Thomas and her team were issuing warnings and fines. SWEEP stands for “Streets and Walkways Education and Enforcement Program.” The program has 65 inspectors spread throughout the city. On Tuesday, Thomas’ team focused it’s attention south of Center City. “This falls on the church, watch your step,” Thomas warned. One of Thomas’ colleagues took out a mobile device and typed up the violation for a church that’s been converted into an apartment building. He noted it looked like there was an effort to salt and shovel most of the property, but a portion of the sidewalk near the alley was coated in ice. It’s a minimum $50 fine. NBC10 spoke with the building owner on the phone. He said he was not aware of the violation and asked the building manager to clear the ice right away. Normally, the inspectors carry mobile printers with them and can leave a violation on the door. But, on Tuesday, Thomas’ team didn’t have printers on them so the property owners will have to wait for the city to mail out the actual violation. “For us to just knock on doors, we don’t do,” Thomas explained. “Sometimes you get irate people.” The number of citations is dependent on the amount of snow each year. According to the city, SWEEP has written 6,610 snow removal violations since 2021 with the majority written in 2021 when a major storm brought more than seven inches of snow to Philly. No violations were given in 2023 when we experienced record low snowfall. The total includes 470 this year so far. Because of the lack of printers Tuesday, Thomas’ SWEEP team issued at least three dozen violations without a knock or notice left on doors. That includes one rowhome. When NBC10 asked Thomas about quickly the homeowner might clear the sidewalk, Thomas said, “I’m pretty sure someone will tell them we were out here and we was at their door and it will probably be clear.” NBC10 went back out to the rowhome about 20 hours after the violation was issued for that property and it had not been cleared. After our crews knocked, a man came to the door and told us he wasn’t aware the property owner had been cited. He told NBC10 that he would buy salt and figure it out. Most of the properties that were issued violations on Tuesday still had snowy or icy sidewalks. Some were so slippery, our crews could barely get to the door to knock and ask about the violations. Cassandra Presley is a home health aide at one of the homes near 23rd and Fitzwater streets where SWEEP issued various violations on Tuesday. “They should get out and shovel because its very dangerous,” Presley said. Presley said she wasn’t aware the city had been out ticketing properties that hadn’t cleared the snow and ice. “They should get ticketed because people have to walk by and they could fall,” she said. Presley told NBC10 that it’s not just Graduate Hospital but other parts of the city. She lives near Bustleton and Frankford and says that she has to walk on the street to avoid slipping on icy sidewalks. SWEEP’s Elaine Thomas said that the city is unlikely to file another fine to property owners because they want to give them enough time to correct it. It’s unclear how much money the city actually collects in fines. NBC10 has asked the city, but we have not heard back.