This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Stop shoveling your sidewalk!

 The endless winter getting you down? I’ve got some good news for you. You don’t have to shovel your sidewalk. Just let it pile up. Stay inside and watch television.  

According to NHPR (1/3/14), a State Supreme Court ruling (State v. Jackman) more than a century ago may bar the state from fining you if you refuse to shovel your sidewalk.  

Mark Hayward explains the judges reasoning in the Union-Leader (1/1/2014). “The judges looked at snow shoveling like people look at everything in New Hampshire – as a tax. Any requirement that people shovel their sidewalks is a tax, the Supreme Court said. And by nature, it can’t be applied uniformly because some properties have more sidewalk than others.” 

Find out what's happening in Portsmouthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

However, before you get too comfortable watching out the window as passersby slip and slide on your sidewalk, an NHPR listener adds a disquieting note. And you’d better pay attention because this person is a lawyer. Sheila Zakre notes, “Actually, if the property owner doesn’t shovel on a public sidewalk, thus, preventing access by a person with a disability, that person may have a claim against the property owner and/or the city under the Americans with Disabilities Act, which, pursuant to the Supremacy Clause of the U.S. Constitution, trumps a state law, including the state constitution.” 

Actually, shoveling your sidewalk is much more than a legal matter. It’s personal. Unless you want your neighbors pelting you with snowballs every time you step outside the front door, you’d better keep that sidewalk snow free. As Robert Frost might (but didn’t) say “Clean sidewalks make good neighbors.” 

Find out what's happening in Portsmouthwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

If you would like to read more about the eccentrics, tightwads, and tax haters who live in New Hampshire, may I suggest you read my new book Outtastatahs: Newcomers Adventures in New Hampshire. 

Outtastatahs (as in out-of-staters) can be purchased for $13.99 at River Run Books in Portsmouth; at the Galley Hatch Restaurant gift shop in Hampton; at the Water Street Bookstore in Exeter; at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord; or on-line at amazon.com or barnesandnoble.com.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?