Ohio common law gives abutting property owners no general duty to remove natural snow accumulation, though municipalities may impose statutory sidewalk-clearing duties locally.
Under longstanding Ohio Supreme Court precedent (Lopatkovich v. Tiffin and Brinkman v. Ross), property owners owe no common-law duty to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice from public sidewalks abutting their property. ORC 723.01 places primary responsibility for keeping public ways open and in repair on municipalities themselves. However, ORC 723.011 allows municipalities to enact ordinances requiring abutting owners to clear snow and to assess costs against the property if they fail. Liability for slip-and-fall is generally barred by the open-and-obvious doctrine when ice is naturally accumulated, unless an unnatural accumulation occurs.
Violating a local snow-clearing ordinance enacted under ORC 723.011 typically results in city assessments billed to the property owner; civil tort liability is limited by open-and-obvious doctrine.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Lima, OH
Lima has no ordinance banning backyard composting. A tidy compost pile is allowed, but rotting, odorous, or rubbish-strewn accumulations can be cited as a nu...
Lima, OH
Lima has no ordinance specifically permitting or banning artificial turf in residential yards. It is not covered by the weed/grass height rules, but front-ya...
Lima, OH
Lima has no ordinance banning native or naturalized landscaping. Cultivated flowers and gardens are exempt from the weed rules, but any planting must still m...
Lima, OH
Lima has no ordinance banning or licensing residential rain barrels. Ohio law allows private rainwater collection; the state plumbing code governs any indoor...
Lima, OH
Lima has no standing lawn-watering ban or odd/even schedule. The City's Utilities Department draws on roughly 15 billion gallons of reservoir storage, so out...
Lima, OH
Beyond the 8-inch height limit, Lima requires premises free of all noxious or harmful weeds and vines. The Code Official orders cutting within five days; Ohi...
See how Lima's snow & sidewalk clearing rules stack up against other locations.
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