Brookhaven, NY Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 38-9, added in 2010 and amended by Local Law No. 22-2021, places an affirmative, ongoing duty on whoever owns, rents or occupies real property, a building or a structure next to any street, highway, roadway, public lane, alley or square, in any zoning district, to keep the adjacent sidewalk free and clear of snow, ice and all other obstructions, and to keep it clean and free from filth and dirt. The section does not set a specific number of hours after a storm within which the walk must be cleared; instead it imposes a continuing obligation, and the owner or occupant is expressly made liable to indemnify and defend the Town for any injury or damage caused by an omission, failure or negligence in meeting that duty.

Because the section sits inside the same Highways chapter as the general obstruction and enforcement provisions, a sidewalk buried in un-shoveled snow can also trigger Section 38-4's separate ban on conditions that endanger the public or block passage, and Section 38-6's rule that each day of noncompliance is a new violation. Enforcement typically starts with a Town notice to the owner, followed by referral for prosecution under the chapter's penalty section if the condition is not corrected.