Bowie, MD Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 14-22A places the clearing duty squarely on the property owner or lessor, not the City: anyone fronting or abutting a paved sidewalk or driveway that forms part of the public right-of-way must remove snow and ice from it, or have it removed, and the 48-hour clock starts running the moment any fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain stops, not from when the resident notices it. Subsection A(1) defines 'commercial' broadly, covering any property used to conduct a trade or business that provides goods or services to the public, so the duty reaches storefronts and offices along with houses.

Section 14-22B gives the City Manager discretion to waive the deadline for residential owners or lessors who, considering the totality of their circumstances including age, physical handicap or disability, cannot comply, but the waiver is not automatic: it must be requested before November 1 each year and registered in advance with the City Manager's office, so a resident cannot ask for relief after a storm has already hit. Section 14-22C makes a violation a municipal infraction enforced under Chapter 1, §§ 1-6 and 1-6A, the City's general infraction framework, which lets a code enforcement officer issue a citation payable at City Hall within 20 days or contested at trial, and lets the City Manager or Council also pursue an injunction against a repeat offender.