Ankeny, IA Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Ankeny Code of Ordinances § 152.03 places the sidewalk-clearing duty squarely on the abutting property owner, not the City of Ankeny. The clock starts when snow or ice "ceases to fall," and the owner has 24 hours to clear it before the City can step in. When the City does the work itself, it does not simply send a bill: the cost is certified to the Polk County Treasurer by the City Clerk and placed on the property's tax bill, collected "together with interest and penalties, in the same manner as other unpaid taxes." On top of the raw removal cost, the City Council adds an administrative fee by resolution to cover the cost of supervising the work, so a delinquent property owner pays more than market rate for a snow-removal crew.

The recovered funds return to whichever City fund originally paid for the cleanup. Chapter 152 also shifts civil liability onto the property owner: an abutting owner "may be liable for damages caused by the failure...to use reasonable care in the removal of the snow, ice or accumulations," meaning a slip-and-fall claim can run against the homeowner or landlord rather than only the City. Because Chapter 152, Sidewalk Regulations, is one of the chapters listed under § 1.14 Standard Penalty, an owner who ignores the removal duty is also exposed to prosecution as a simple misdemeanor.