Commission on Disabilities recap: September 17, 2026
(7-minute read)
For residents looking to stay up to date on key town matters, this recap highlights the major takeaways from the Commission on Disabilities meeting held on Thursday, September 17, 2026.
Review the proposed Snow Shoveling Bylaw in the Select Board packet (page 157).
Key takeaways
The proposed Snow Shoveling Bylaw is headed back to the Bylaw Committee with the Commission on Disabilities as sponsor, and the Reading Police Department and Department of Public Works will stay involved as the language is finalized.
Enforcement would follow a tiered structure: a written warning for a first offense, a $100 fine for a second, and a $200 fine for a third, with the offense count resetting each fiscal year.
The draft sets a 42-inch clearing width and separate compliance windows for residential and commercial properties, along with a new requirement to reclear sidewalks within a set number of hours after municipal snow operations end.
Why the bylaw is needed
Speaking at the Select Board’s September 22 meeting, Town Manager Jayne Wellman explained the purpose behind the proposed bylaw. She said a resident filed a complaint with the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board last winter after being unable to get around downtown Reading, and that the board has since warned the town it is at risk of a fine for non-compliance. Wellmain said the bylaw would help protect the town from a potential penalty of up to $10,000 per day, and that Public Works does not have the staffing to clear sidewalks and streets at the same time. She said the town has reached a point where it needs to act to protect residents, citing complaints from parents trying to get their children to school, and that the town is separately working to create a volunteer organization to help residents who need snow-clearing assistance, coordinated through the Pleasant Street Center.
Comparing other communities’ bylaws
Wellman told the Commission that the proposed snow shoveling bylaw will return to the Bylaw Committee, which is glad to have the Commission on Disabilities sponsor it, and that the Police and Public Works departments will remain in the loop as the language develops.
Commission members reviewed a comparative analysis of snow removal bylaws in five nearby communities, looking at who is responsible for clearing, how multifamily properties are treated, and clearing deadlines. Under the draft, residential properties would have 24 hours to comply, while buildings with four or more units would be treated as commercial and required to clear within 12 hours. Wellman pointed to Brookline’s bylaw as an example, which sets a 3-hour commercial deadline during daylight hours and addresses clear width and curb ramps. Members noted that Reading’s draft is more explicit than most about corner and mid-block ramps, though it does not yet specify what happens if a cleared corner is blocked again, a question the Commission expects to revisit. A separate analysis reviewed snow-showing bylaws in 15 other towns.
Members also discussed whether the Department of Public Works should have more say over which ice and snow treatment products are approved for use, and whether the fee schedule, which aligns with other communities, should apply per day or per snow and ice event. Both questions are expected to come up again as the bylaw moves toward Town Meeting.
Fee structure and enforcement
Under the proposed enforcement structure, a first offense results in a written warning, a second offense a $100 fine, and a third a $200 fine, with the count resetting at the start of each fiscal year. Commission member John Halsey raised concerns about how enforcement would be perceived, noting that any bylaw the town puts forward needs to actually pass Town Meeting, and that questions about enforcement are likely to come up there. Commission Chair Mike Moschella asked how the Commission could keep the conversation focused at Town Meeting rather than get bogged down.
Halsey also cautioned that businesses weigh the cost of a fine against the cost of compliance, so the penalty needs to be significant enough to prompt action without being overly harsh, and said the clock built into the enforcement timeline should help address that balance.
Wellman said the town could issue a public alert extending compliance deadlines during major snowstorms at no cost to the town, though she noted that some sidewalk sections do not clearly belong to any property owner, and that Public Works does not have the staffing to clear both streets and sidewalks at the same time, and it takes approx. 35 hours to clear the sidewalks the town is responsible for.
Compliance windows and clearing standards
The draft sets a clearing standard, covering snow, slush, and ice. Wellman said the town asked for a wider clearing and settled on 42 inches, rather than 36 inches. If more snow falls before an existing compliance window closes, a new window would begin. A new section discussed during the meeting would require residents to reclear sidewalks within a set window after municipal snow operations end. Albert Pless, Director of the Office of Equity and Social Justice, asked what extending that window would accomplish and how it would affect the other side of the issue. The group settled on eight daylight hours for residential properties and four for commercial re-clearing, after Commission member Michelle Greenwalt noted that a resident who clears a sidewalk before work should not be fined for snow that returns while they are away. The re-clearing requirement would not apply to snow deposited by vehicles or by private plowing companies, an approach modeled by Brookline’s bylaw.
Halsey raised a related scenario: if the town’s own snow-clearing operations rebury a sidewalk a resident already cleared, particularly on corner lots, should that resident be fined again? He said the town needs to ensure it follows its own rules, since one of the primary reasons sidewalks are cleared is for children walking to school, but even the town’s snow-clearing equipment can struggle to keep up. Wellman said the bylaw could be brought back to Town Meeting for amendment at a later time if certain properties consistently need town clearing, and that the town could pursue cost recovery in those cases, an approach modeled in Arlington, where the Department of Public Works can clear a non-compliant sidewalk and bill the property owner a reasonable cost.
Select Board Vice Chair Karen Rose-Gillis raised a related concern about private snow-clearing companies pushing snow onto neighboring properties, describing an instance in which a neighbor’s contractor pushed cleared snow into her yard and blocked trash cans, but she didn’t realize it until the following day. Moschella said responsibility in that case would fall to the homeowner who hired the clearing company, and Wellman said the town could establish a waiver process and leave the details to the Director of Public Works rather than writing them into the bylaw itself.
Accessibility and pedestrian access
Commission member Michelle Clopper said the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) calls for a reasonable amount of time and flexibility in enforcement, which can be adjusted based on snowfall totals. She also said snow removal priority should be based on usage, with higher-foot-traffic areas prioritized, and asked about a possible program involving Reading Memorial High School students, which other members confirmed is already under discussion. She also raised concerns about ensuring pedestrian crosswalk buttons remain accessible after clearing, noting issues from last year; Halsey said those issues were likely unintentional oversights rather than deliberate.
Moschella asked how the bylaw would address residents with disabilities specifically, and members confirmed that the bylaw’s language would address accommodation. This reporter asked whether the bylaw could also address fallen leaves, which become slippery when wet in autumn months. Wellman said they could discuss that further, along with concerns about residents pushing snow into the street or onto neighboring properties.
Open questions and next steps
Several questions remain open, including how to define when a snow event officially ends, a point one member noted residents are likely to debate regardless of how it is written. Wellman said she would talk with the Department of Public Works about designating priority sidewalks, advertising the new rules to residents, and finalizing the compliance and re-clearing windows. The bylaw is expected to take effect January 1, giving residents advance notice before enforcement begins. A joint Bylaw Committee meeting is planned for October and will be structured as a community forum.
