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

Township Code § 435-1A, adopted from Chapter 130, Article II of the 1994 Code, requires owners or tenants of residential, commercial or industrial land abutting a street with installed sidewalks to remove all snow and ice from the adjoining sidewalks within 12 daylight hours after the snow or ice falls or forms. Multifamily properties, including apartment projects, garden apartments, townhouses and retirement-village complexes, face an added duty under § 435-1B: within the same 12 daylight hours, they must clear common sidewalks, passageways, driveways and private streets enough to protect resident health and welfare, keep unobstructed ingress and egress for vehicles including fire, police and ambulance units, and clear an area for off-street resident parking.

Section 435-2 separately bars any owner, tenant or occupant from throwing, placing or depositing snow or ice from private property onto a street or sidewalk. If snow or ice is not removed as required, or is illegally dumped onto public ways, § 435-3 lets the Department of Public Works remove it once notified by the Police Division, with the removal cost certified to the Director of Finance and charged against the abutting real estate as a lien collected the same way as unpaid property taxes.