Ten-foot snow pile ‘from city roads’ blocks man’s driveway in Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A Fort St. John local’s driveway has been blocked after it became the dumping ground for snow that he believes was plowed off his street. 

On December 27th, Steven Farquhar looked out of his residence on 86th Street and saw a 10-foot pile of snow on his driveway. 

Owing to the above-than-average snowfall the city has experienced in December, the city has been working to keep roads clear for drivers and pedestrians – and Farquhar believes those plows are to blame.

Farquhar, who has been living in the city for over 17 years, said this has never happened before. 

He shared: “[On Saturday], I noticed that they were plowing my street and [I] didn’t really hear any extra noise outside.

“But then just after four o’clock, I just looked out my window and I knew it was definitely from the city roads because it was way too much.” 

Farquhar reported the issue to the city immediately, he said, but received a message on December 29th saying the issue has been forwarded to the City of Fort St. John public works. 

“Then two hours later, I did get an email from the public works saying they did file a snow removal request, but as of right now, it has not been removed yet.” 

Although Farquhar does not own a car, he has visitors on a regular basis and the snow pile has been causing issues. 

“I wasn’t able to shovel it myself and certainly not with that huge pile,” Farquhar told Energeticcity.ca.  

“There’s nothing that I can personally do with that, but my biggest concern is emergency services, if I need an ambulance or a fire truck to my house that is blocking them off.” 

He said: “They need to come and remove the pile. When I say remove the pile, I mean take the snow out of here and not push it onto my yard because that’s what I’m afraid of.

“I have a little apple tree in the front yard and if they push that snow, they’re going to destroy my tree.

“I would like them to come and remove the snow that should not have been put there in the first place.” 

Energeticcity.ca reached out to the city for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.