Somerset County towns require owners to clear their sidewalks. N.J.S.A. 40:65-12 lets every municipality compel removal of snow and ice from abutting sidewalks within twelve daylight hours after it falls. Somerville, Bound Brook, and Bridgewater all enforce this by ordinance.
Sidewalk clearing is a real, enforceable duty here, grounded in a state grant of power. N.J.S.A. 40:65-12 authorizes any municipality to compel the owner or tenant of land abutting a public sidewalk to remove all snow and ice within twelve hours of daylight after it falls or forms. Somerset County's denser boroughs and townships — Somerville, Bound Brook, Bridgewater, Hillsborough, Franklin — have adopted ordinances doing exactly that, so a homeowner who leaves a walk icy after a storm can be cited. If the owner fails to clear it, the statute also lets the municipality do the work and charge the cost back to the property. The twelve-hour clock and any grace period vary slightly by town ordinance.
Leaving snow or ice on a public sidewalk past the ordinance deadline draws a municipal fine, and the town may remove it and bill the owner or lien the property under the authority of N.J.S.A. 40:65-12.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Somerset County's snow & sidewalk clearing rules stack up against other locations.
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