Chicopee, MA Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 243-34 of the Code of the City of Chicopee puts the duty on "the owner or person having the care of any estate abutting upon any street, lane, court or square" where a sidewalk is established or set apart. Because the duty follows the person with care of the estate, a property manager or occupant is reached as well as the deed holder. The clock starts when snow ceases to fall, and the sidewalk must be cleared within 24 hours. The fine is $50 under subsection B, added 2-15-2000 by Ord. No. 00-13; the section itself was amended 2-4-1986.

Two companion sections close the gaps. Section 243-35 covers snow that collects on the sidewalk by falling from an adjoining building or by drifting: the abutting owner or person with care must remove it within 24 hours after it collects, again at $50. Section 243-36 covers ice. Whenever a sidewalk is encumbered with ice, the owner or person with care must make it safe and convenient for travel by removing the ice or by covering it with sand or some other suitable substance within 24 hours after it becomes encumbered, at $50. That ice section was added 2-20-2001 by Ord. No. 01-07.

Where the snow goes matters too. Section 243-33 forbids throwing or putting snow or ice into any street, lane or alley in the City. The violator, or the principal if the violator is an agent or servant, owes the City the cost of removing it, and the fine for that violation is $100. So shoveling a sidewalk into the roadway trades a $50 problem for a $100 one.

Section 243-44 lists who enforces Chapter 243: the Superintendent of Public Works, the Chicopee Police Department, the Building Department, the Health Department and the Fire Department, or their designees, each able to issue citations. Section 243-37 adds a separate $100 fine for abutting owners who leave loose sand or other material on the paved walk.