Flint, MI Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 42-46 of the Flint Code (Chapter 42, Streets and Sidewalks) establishes the general duty: every owner, agent, or occupant of any lot or parcel of land within the City must keep and maintain good and sufficient sidewalks along all streets and avenues in front of or adjacent to the property. Unlike many other Michigan cities (Grand Rapids and Lansing publish 24-hour windows, East Lansing publishes 24 hours), Flint's Code does not embed a specific hour-based deadline in § 42-46 for snow and ice removal; the duty is continuous and is enforced on a totality-of-the-circumstances basis. The Flint Street Maintenance division (cityofflint.com/street-maintenance) handles the cartway: City crews are deployed to all six maintenance areas when accumulation exceeds four inches within a 24-hour period. Residential sidewalk clearing is not a City service. Michigan premises-liability law (with the modified open-and-obvious doctrine after the Michigan Supreme Court's 2023 Kandil-Elsayed v. F & E Oil decision restoring traditional comparative-fault analysis for natural-accumulation slips) generally allocates pedestrian-injury exposure to the abutting property owner or occupant when the City has shifted the maintenance duty by ordinance. Owners and occupants should clear paths promptly after snowfall, treat ice with salt or sand, and avoid shoveling snow into the public street - the Michigan Vehicle Code (MCL 257.677a) prohibits depositing snow or ice on a roadway in a manner that may obstruct traffic. Failure to maintain may be cited under § 42-46 and is referenceable for blight purposes under Chapter 31 Article III where the condition contributes to broader property neglect.