[Amended 7-26-1994]
Whenever the Board of Education, by vote of two-thirds of its members, shall find that the safety of pupils who are required to walk to and from any public school in Town shall so require, and shall so recommend to the Town Council, the Town Council may cause a suitable walkway to be constructed along such street or highway, and the costs of the construction and maintenance thereof, including the clearing of ice and snow, shall be paid entirely by the Town from general tax funds. For school access sidewalk authorized and constructed after September 1, 1994, the obligations and expenses of maintenance (including clearing of ice and snow) and repairs or replacement thereof shall be as provided in § 364-2.
[Amended 7-26-1994; 4-12-2004]
A. 
Every owner of land in the Town in front of whose premises there is a sidewalk shall keep the same in a safe condition and free from any and all defects and keep the same free from all obstructions which would impede public travel on such sidewalk. The costs of repair or replacement of existing sidewalk shall be paid by such owner who, upon presentation to the Town of proof of payment for such costs, shall be entitled to reimbursements from the Town of 40% of the reasonable cost thereof.
B. 
Upon the default or negligence of the owner, tenant or occupant of such adjoining premises to repair such sidewalk within 10 days after notice to do so from the Town Council, the Town Council may repair such sidewalk, and the expense of such repair shall be a lien upon the premises adjoining such sidewalk, providing the Town Council shall cause a certificate of lien to be recorded in the Town Clerk's office within 60 days from the completion of such repair.
C. 
Whenever any sidewalk adjoining and fronting any land or premises shall be wholly or partially covered with snow, the owner, tenant or occupant of such adjoining premises shall cause such sidewalk to be made safe and convenient by removing such snow therefrom within 12 hours after the accumulation of the same thereon, and should ice be accumulated on any sidewalk so that the same cannot be removed, such ice shall be covered with sand or other substance within three hours after the accumulation of such ice.
[Amended 10-9-2012]
D. 
Municipal liability for ice and snow removal.
[Added 2-23-2015[1]]
(1) 
The provisions of Section 7-163a of the Connecticut General Statutes are hereby adopted and are set forth in Subsection D(2), (3) and (4) hereof.
(2) 
Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 13a-149 of the Connecticut General Statutes or any other general or special act, the municipality shall not be liable to any person for injury to person or property due to the presence of ice or snow on a public sidewalk unless the municipality is the owner or person in possession and control of land abutting such sidewalk, other than land used as a highway or street, provided that the municipality shall be liable for its affirmative acts with respect to any such sidewalk under its possession and control.
(3) 
The owner or person in possession and control of land abutting a public sidewalk shall have the same duty of care with respect to the presence of ice or snow on such sidewalk toward the portion of the sidewalk abutting his property as the municipality had prior to the effective date of this chapter and shall be liable to persons injured in person or property where a breach of said duty is the proximate cause of said injury.
(4) 
No action to recover damages for injury to person or property caused by the presence of ice or snow on a public sidewalk against a person who owns or is in possession and control of land abutting a public sidewalk shall be brought but within two years from the date when the injury is first sustained.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also provided for the redesignation of former Subsections D through K as Subsections E through L, respectively.
E. 
Whenever any sidewalk adjoining and fronting any land or premises located in the downtown Southington or downtown Plantsville area, said area to be defined as an area adjoining Center Street from Main Street to South Center Street and adjoining Main Street from Merrill Avenue to Berlin Avenue for downtown Southington and adjoining Main Street from Maple Street to South Main Street, adjoining West Main Street from South Main to Summer Street and adjoining Main Street to Hillside Avenue for downtown Plantsville, shall be wholly or partially covered with dirt, sand or other debris, the owner, tenant or occupant of such adjoining premises shall cause such sidewalk to be made safe by removing the dirt, sand or other debris.
F. 
The owner, tenant or occupant of any premises adjoining any sidewalk violating Subsections C and D of this section shall be fined, and a separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues, which shall be in addition to any expense or cost to the Town to remove ice or snow, dirt, sand or other debris, or cover ice, as provided for herein. Fines are listed in the Fine Schedule, § 37-2 of this Code, and posted on the Town of Southington website.
G. 
The Town Council may, after a hearing as herein provided, make a finding of fact that public necessity and convenience require a sidewalk be constructed along any highway within the Town. Notice of the time and place of such hearing, describing in general terms the proposed location of the sidewalk, shall be given to each recorded owner of the property adjacent to which such sidewalk is proposed to be constructed by mail and by advertisement in a newspaper having circulation in the Town at least 10 days before the date of such hearing. Should the Town Council, after such hearing, make a finding of fact that public necessity and convenience require a sidewalk to be constructed along any highway, a copy of such finding shall, within 10 days after such finding, be mailed to or placed in the hands of each owner of the property adjacent to which such sidewalk is to be constructed.
H. 
The owner of any such property adjacent to the proposed sidewalk may appeal to the Superior Court for the Judicial District of New Britain within 20 days from the receipt of a copy of such finding of the Town Council.
I. 
Upon completion of the construction of any sidewalk in accordance with this section, the Town Council shall assess 50% of the cost of such construction as benefits to the owners of the abutting property, in proportion to the number of feet owned along the sidewalk; which shall be a lien upon the adjoining premises, provided the Town Council causes a certificate of lien to be recorded in the Town Clerk's office within 60 days from the completion of such construction.
J. 
All sidewalks which shall be constructed or reconstructed shall conform with the specifications as determined by the Town Planning and Zoning Commission, where applicable, and otherwise to such specifications, dimensions, grades and lines as shall be determined by the Town Council.
K. 
The Town Council may appoint a sidewalk inspector, who shall periodically inspect all sidewalks in the Town and report to the Council any defects, unsafe conditions or any violations of this article, whereupon notice as provided for herein shall be given by the Council, to the owner, tenant or occupant of the adjoining premises.
L. 
Nothing contained in this article shall alter or affect any rules or regulations duly and legally adopted by the Town Planning and Zoning Commission, in accordance with the authority granted to it by law; and provided, further, that this section shall not apply to school access walks duly authorized prior to September 1, 1994.
[Added 8-23-1993]
A. 
In addition to the amount set forth in § 364-2E of this article, the owner, tenant or occupant of a premises shall pay, in addition to the fine set forth, an additional charge per violation, representing the costs of enforcement of the Code as to snow and ice removal. Fines are listed in the Fine Schedule, § 37-2 of this Code, and posted in the Town of Southington website.
B. 
No owner, tenant, occupant or other individual shall throw or cause to be blown by machine or other implement snow into the right-of-way or sidewalks in the Town of Southington. Any person or company found to be in violation hereof shall be fined per violation. Cul-de-sac residents shall be subject to consideration of the difficulties of snow removal in such areas by the agent who decides on the issuance of a violation. Fines are listed in the Fine Schedule, § 37-2 of this Code, and posted in the Town of Southington website.
C. 
In the event an owner of premises is absent from the premises when an accumulation of ice or snow occurs such as needs to be removed from a sidewalk adjoining said premises, and the police are unable to reach the owner by phone or in person, then in said event the Town of Southington may cause the snow or ice to be removed and lien the premises for the amount so expended in addition to any other remedy or fines as allowed by law.