Four days after the snow stopped falling, government agencies and business owners took the warmer weather as an opportunity to remove the layer of ice covering sidewalks and parking lots.

A city of Lawrence ordinance states any sidewalk along a public right-of-way must be cleared within 24 hours of the end of a winter storm. If the sidewalk cannot be cleared, sand must be applied to the ice and snow within 24 hours. Violation of this ordinance is punishable by a fine of $20 per day, after a business or individual has been cited and five days have elapsed.

The list of treacherous sidewalks and parking lots was long, even as recently as Wednesday night. A manager at Home Oxygen 2 U, 1025 N. Third Street in the old Tanger Outlet Mall, Wednesday afternoon said that his building’s sidewalks and parking lots “were like an ice skating rink.”

Management had the sidewalks cleared early Thursday morning and was in the process of clearing the sidewalk. The Lawrence police station, 4820 Bob Billings Parkway, walkway was ice-covered Wednesday but was cleared by Thursday afternoon. Two fire stations had uncleaned sidewalks until Thursday afternoon.

Brian Jimenez, city code enforcement manager, said his office had received 20 complaint calls, most of which were about private property. The Lawrence city ordinance covers only sidewalks along the public right-of-way and does not cover the Kansas University campus.

Belinda Rehmer, a Lawrence Memorial Hospital communications coordinator, said the hospital had seen about 65 people who had injured themselves by slipping and falling since Sunday’s storm.