City Council adopts Hank’s Law, aims to make sidewalks safer after dog electrocuted

In February, a four-year-old dog died when he was electrocuted by a sidewalk deicing system.

On Monday, the Spokane City Council took action to ensure it never happens again.

Hank’s Law, named after the collie mix whose untimely death spurred the regulatory change, was adopted unanimously by the council and will require heated sidewalks to comply with modern safety standards.

“This should never happen again,” said Councilman Breean Beggs, who sponsored the legislation.

Beggs credited Hank’s owner, Zach Harper, for helping the council through the process of crafting the new ordinance.

Hank was electrocuted by stray voltage beneath a sidewalk owned by Washington Trust Bank, which had installed the electric deicing system more than 40 years ago.

“It was a dog, [but] it could have been a small child that was electrocuted,” noted Councilwoman Lori Kinnear.

The ordinance requires that any snow-melting system under a public right of way be equipped to automatically shut off if it malfunctions, a feature not required in systems installed before 1993.

Under the new law, the city will create a database of the heating systems and establish a monitoring program. Businesses will be required to register their snow melting systems with the city engineer and test them annually.

Barring a veto by the mayor, Beggs said the city will give owners of the deicing systems one year to comply with the new law.

Washington Trust Bank has said that its deicing system was decommissioned following the incident.