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

The obligation sits inside Chapter 343, Parking, Article II, Accessible Parking, adopted 1-5-2021 by Ord. No. 2021-006. Section 343-2 requires off-street lots serving businesses, shopping malls, theaters, condominiums and similar uses to set aside reserved spaces for vehicles bearing a disability plate or placard, sized to 521 CMR 23.00 standards. Section 343-3B then layers on a maintenance duty: whoever has lawful control of that lot, public or private, must exercise reasonable care to keep the HP spaces and access ramps clear of snow, debris, refuse and shopping carts, and must clear the HP spaces, the sidewalks serving them, and the curb cuts within a fixed window tied to when the snow stopped falling, not when a storm began.

A storm ending in daylight gives the property owner until 10:00 p.m. that same day; one ending overnight gives until 10:00 a.m. the next morning. The rule reaches any party with lawful control of the lot, including a landlord, condominium association or commercial tenant, not just the titled owner. Inspectional Services Division enforces the article under § 343-5, and a violator first receives a written notice; a $300-per-day fine under § 343-4C attaches only once that written warning has been given and the condition persists, and the warning stays valid for 90 days.

Appeals of an accessibility standard go to the Massachusetts Architectural Access Board, while ADA relief runs through the U.S. Department of Justice under § 343-6. Fines collected go into a segregated account administered by the City Treasurer-Collector for the benefit of persons with disabilities, spent only on the recommendation of the Disability Commission with Council and Mayor approval under § 343-7.