De Pere, WI Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 22-18(a) puts the removal duty on the owner of any parcel abutting a street or public place, requiring snow and ice cleared to the full paved width of the sidewalk within 48 hours of falling or accumulating. Where footways have never been paved, the code still requires a path at least four feet wide be kept open. The director of public works can waive or extend the 48-hour window during unusually harsh or prolonged storms, so the clock is not absolute in a multi-day blizzard.

Subsection (e) extends the same 48-hour rule to snow and ice on a roof that could slide onto a street or sidewalk, requiring removal or guards that stop the discharge. Owners cannot solve their own problem by pushing snow back into the public right-of-way: subsection (d) bars depositing snow or ice removed from a driveway, parking lot or business property onto any public street, and bars piling removed sidewalk snow where it blocks vehicle or pedestrian sightlines. Under subsection (f), failure to clear a sidewalk or roof, or dumping snow onto a public way, is declared a public nuisance.

The city can then send its own crew to remove the snow or ice and bill the owner. The director of public works sets a per-linear-foot removal fee each year by November 1, covering equipment, labor and administrative costs, with a separate, higher rate for compacted snow and ice. If the resulting bill goes unpaid, the city clerk levies it against the property as a special tax.