City of Buffalo, NY Article VIII Snow and Ice Removal

[Derived from Secs. 21 through 23, of Ch. IV of the Charter and Ordinances, 1974]

§ 413-50 Duty for removal; penalties for offenses.

[Amended 10-14-1997, effective 10-30-1997; 9-4-2007, effective 9-17-2007; 12-22-2009, effective 1-4-2010]

A. It shall be the duty of every owner or occupant of any premises abutting any public street to remove, before 9:00 a.m., all snow and ice which may have fallen upon the sidewalk abutting said premises. In case said sidewalk is not paved its full width, it shall be necessary to remove such snow or ice from a space three feet in width. The owner or occupant of lands fronting or abutting on any street, highway, traveled road, public lane, alley or square shall make, maintain and repair the sidewalk adjoining his lands and shall keep such sidewalk and the gutter free and clear of and from snow, ice and all other obstructions. Such owner or occupant, and each of them, shall be liable for any injury or damage by reason of omission, failure or negligence to make, maintain or repair such sidewalk or failure or negligence to keep such sidewalk and the gutter free and clear of and from snow, ice and all other obstructions.

B. It shall be the duty of every owner or occupant of any premises abutting any sidewalk in which a handicapped access cut has been installed to remove, before 9:00 a.m., all snow and ice which may have fallen upon the handicapped access cut. Such owner or occupant, and each of them, shall be liable for any injury or damage by reason of omission, failure or negligence to remove all snow and ice from the handicapped access cut.

C. In case the snow and ice on the sidewalks or handicapped access cut shall be frozen so hard that it cannot be removed without material difficulty or injury to the pavement, the owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person having charge of any building or lot of ground, as aforesaid, shall, within the time specified in the preceding subsections, cause the sidewalk or handicapped access cut abutting said premises to be strewn with ashes, sand, sawdust or some suitable materials and shall, as soon thereafter as the weather permits, thoroughly clean said sidewalk or handicapped access cut. Such owner or occupant, and each of them, shall be liable for any injury or damage by reason of omission, failure or negligence to cause injury or damage by reason of omission, failure or negligence to cause the sidewalk or handicapped access cut abutting said premises to be strewn with ashes, sand, sawdust, salt or some suitable materials and shall or for failure or negligence to soon thereafter as the weather permits, thoroughly clean said sidewalk or handicapped access cut.

D. Any person violating the provisions of this section may be liable for any injury or damage resulting therefrom, in addition to the general penalties, to the penalties established in Chapter 137, Article I, of this Code.

E. Notwithstanding any provision of any other ordinance, any person, firm or corporation who is granted a license, a renewal of a license, pursuant to City of Buffalo ordinances, or any person, firm or corporation who is granted a building permit pursuant to any provision of City of Buffalo ordinances for work to be performed on any commercial or business premises, shall be deemed to have agreed, as a condition of such license or permit, to keep and maintain reasonably free of snow and ice any sidewalk or other pedestrian way immediately adjacent or contiguous to the premises for which any permit has been issued or which is used by the licensee or his agents or employees in the operation of any business for which any license has been issued. The owner or occupant of any building or lot abutting a public sidewalk is responsible for and shall remove any accumulation of snow and/or ice from said public sidewalk within 24 hours after the snow and/or ice has ceased to fall, gather or accumulate. Failure to keep such sidewalk or other pedestrian way free of snow and ice shall be grounds for denial or revocation of such license or licenses. Such person, firm or corporation, and each of them, shall be liable for any failure to keep such sidewalk or other pedestrian free of snow and ice.

§ 413-51 Performance of work by City; reports; expenses.

Upon the neglect or refusal of any owner or occupant to comply with the provisions of § 413-48 of Article VII of this chapter or § 413-50 of this Article, it shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Street Sanitation to see that the provisions of said sections are enforced, and in all cases of their violation, he shall employ men to clean such walks at a rate not exceeding the prevailing rate of wages for such work. Said Commissioner shall cause to be kept an account of all such work, and on or before the first day of April in each year, the Commissioner of Street Sanitation shall report to the Common Council all parcels of land in front of which such work shall have been performed and the owner and occupant of which shall not have paid to the City the amount of expense incurred in cleaning the sidewalks in front of his premises or removing snow and ice therefrom, and the Common Council shall thereupon order assessments upon such lands for the several sums so reported.

§ 413-52 Methods of removal and disposal locations; penalties for offenses.

A. No person shall plow, shovel, sweep or heap up any snow, ice or other materials into piles or ridges on any street or public place in the City, or cause any such act to be done, or, if an owner of property adjacent to any street or public place suffers any such act by tenants in such manner as to interfere with the safety and convenience of public travel; and in all cases where snow, ice or other material is moved about, it shall be uniformly leveled off in front of residences and places of business in a manner to permit convenient approach thereto and entrance to said premises.

B. No plow, sweeper or other similar device, operated by mechanical power, and no rotary brush or sweeper for cleaning streets or parts thereof shall be used on any of the streets or public places of the City unless it is constructed, equipped, protected and operated in a manner to prevent any snow, ice, slush, water or dirt being thrown upon any sidewalk, against any building or upon any vehicle while on any public street.

C. No person shall use salt, lime or any deleterious substance to remove snow or ice from the sidewalks or paved portion of any street or public place or from the track or tracks of any street surface railroad, except upon curves, switches, turnouts and at street crossings.

D. All such plowing, shoveling, sweeping and removal in any manner of snow or ice from the sidewalks or paved portion of any street or public place within the City of Buffalo shall be done in a manner directed by the Commissioner of Street Sanitation of the City of Buffalo.

E. Any person violating the provisions of this section may be liable, in addition to the general penalties, to the penalties established in Chapter 137, Article I, of this Code.