Bellevue, NE Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 28-134, Duty to Remove, places the clearing duty on both the owner and the occupant of any real property in the city, defining occupant broadly to include a tenant, lessee or owner actually occupying the property or having the right to do so. The duty is to keep sidewalks adjacent to the property clean and free from obstructions and accumulations of snow, ice, mud and slush, clearing them as soon as reasonably possible, with a firm outer limit: accumulations must be removed within 24 hours after any storm or snowfall ends.

If the owner or occupant does not clear the sidewalk in time, section 28-135 lets the city do the clearing itself, and the mayor and city council may levy a special assessment against the property to recover the cost, capped at what is sufficient to pay the city's actual removal costs and expenses. That assessment becomes a lien on the property from the date it is levied, is due to the city treasurer 30 days after the levy, and is collected the same way as other real estate taxes and assessments.

The article also addresses the reverse problem: section 28-137 makes it unlawful for anyone to place snow, ice, mud or slush onto a public way, and section 28-138 makes a violator liable for the city's cost of removing it, with unpaid bills accruing interest at 16 percent per year, or the highest rate the law allows, starting from the date the city mails its statement. Section 28-136 also creates a civil cause of action for damages against an owner or occupant who fails to comply with the section 28-134 clearing duty, available to anyone, including the city, who is injured or damaged as a result.