Grand Forks, ND Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 16-0301, in Article 3, Use and Care of Streets and Sidewalks, sets a flat twenty-four-hour deadline that starts once snow or ice has finished falling or accumulating on a sidewalk or approach walk. If the owner or occupant refuses or fails to clear it within that window, the superintendent of streets is authorized to remove it directly and bill the property. The section builds in a fairness carve-out: no one is required to shovel while a snowstorm is still in progress, so the deadline only starts once the storm itself has stopped.

If the city does the clearing, § 16-0301 makes the cost both an assessment against the adjacent property and a lien on it, and § 16-0302 requires the superintendent to compile a list of chargeable properties and file it with the city auditor by the first of May each year, with the actual cost and a legal description of each affected lot or parcel. That list then goes through public notice and a city council hearing under § 16-0303, published twice over two consecutive weeks in the official newspaper, with the last notice at least eight days before the June confirmation hearing, giving property owners a chance to object to the amount assessed before it is finalized and certified to the county auditor alongside other sidewalk assessments.