Blaine, MN Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 70-2, "Sidewalk snow removal," places a 48-hour clock on every owner or occupant of property fronting or adjacent to a public sidewalk in the City of Blaine: subsection (b)(1) bars letting snow remain on the sidewalk longer than 48 hours after it stops falling. The city manager can exempt specific sidewalk stretches from that duty under subsection (b)(2) where boulevard size or state and local plowing schedules make compliance difficult for the adjacent owner. If snow is not cleared in time, subsection (c) authorizes the Public Works director to have city crews remove it at the owner's or occupant's expense, keeping a record of the cost and time of the work performed.

Subsection (d) then bills that cost to the property owner, and if the bill is not paid when due, adds a 15 percent delinquency charge and certifies the total to the county auditor to be collected with the property's taxes the same as any other special assessment. Subsection (e) protects the city from any claim arising out of an owner's failure to comply. The rule sits in Chapter 70, "Streets, Sidewalks, Special Events," alongside the separate street-obstruction ban in section 70-3 that also reaches snow plowed or blown back onto a public street.