“April showers bring May flowers,” obviously doesn’t apply to a typical springtime in the Rockies. In fact, most Colorado natives will tell you that if you don’t like the weather in Colorado, wait an hour and it will change.

Residents of this beautiful state experience year-round sunshine, low humidity, and a semi-arid climate. Newcomers may be surprised to learn that March and April typically bring the largest snowfalls in the Metro area. It’s not at all unusual to have 70 degrees one day, and a blizzard the next!

With the snow season continuing through springtime, it is wise to review snow removal policies and procedures, and who plows what? In Castle Pines North, snow removal is a community-wide effort with responsibility shared by several parties:

The Douglas County Public Works Department plows most public streets in CPN. Due to special- ized equipment, logistics, timing, available funding and manpower concerns, a snow removal priority has been assigned to each street. For more information, contact Douglas County Public Works Operations at 303-660-7480.

The Castle Pines North Metro District is responsible for plowing sidewalks and trails along major streets and in parks. For questions regarding snow removal on CPN’s open spaces and trails, please contact the Metro District Parks & Open Space Manager, Charlie Fagan, at 303-688-8550, ext. 20.

Neighborhood HOAs are responsible for snow removal on any private streets, sidewalks and trails along designated HOA common areas, as well as driveways and sidewalks of town homes and patio homes.

For single-family homes, individual homeowners are responsible for removing snow and ice along the sidewalks adjacent to their homes.

Since snow removal responsibilities in CPN vary by neighborhood, the CPN Master Association has set up a neighborhood-specific directory for homeowners to use. From the CPN homepage, www.cpnhoa.org, click on the “contacts/services” link and then click on the “snow removal” link.

Armed with these resources and a healthy awareness of the probability of snow in the upcoming months, CPN residents can relax and enjoy the uniqueness our community has to offer.