Edison, NJ Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Edison's snow-removal obligation tracks the classic New Jersey municipal model. Under §19-2, every owner, occupant, or tenant of premises abutting or bordering on any street in Edison Township must clear snow and ice from the abutting sidewalk within 12 daylight hours of when the snow falls or the ice forms. The use of sand or ashes is permitted only as a substitute when ice is too frozen to be physically removed - it does not excuse the duty to clear snow itself. Commercial property owners face an additional standard for sidewalks, parking areas, and entrances used by the public in the transaction of business. The ordinance also expressly prohibits any owner, occupant, tenant, or snow contractor from plowing or piling snow into spaces reserved for handicapped drivers, which would otherwise violate both the local ordinance and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). State law (N.J.S.A. 40:64-11) authorizes municipalities to impose this snow-clearance duty and to recover the cost of any township-performed cleanup as a special assessment against the property. Separately under New Jersey common law (Stewart v. 104 Wallace Street, 1981) commercial property owners owe a duty of care to pedestrians injured on un-cleared sidewalks - residential homeowners are partially shielded from that liability but still face the ordinance fine and the cleanup-cost assessment.