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

Linden City Code § 15-10 requires the owner of every dwelling, store, other building or lot to remove snow or ice from the paved sidewalk or the unpaved area normally used as a walkway within six daylight hours after a snowfall or ice accumulation occurs. The clearance width differs by property type: at least two feet on a single-family or two-family residential lot, and at least four feet on every other lot, meaning commercial, multifamily and institutional properties carry a wider clearing duty. Where ice is frozen too hard to remove within that window, § 15-10 allows owners to instead cover the sidewalk, walkway and steps thoroughly with sand, ashes, sawdust or rock salt within the same six daylight hours.

Separately, § 15-12 bars anyone, including property owners, from placing snow or ice on any street, road, sidewalk or municipal right-of-way, or on a neighboring property without that owner's permission, and prohibits piling snow in a way that blocks vehicular or pedestrian traffic, access to a street or sidewalk, or a fire hydrant; if plowing a driveway unavoidably pushes some snow into the street, it must be plowed back onto the property it came from. If an owner fails to clear snow under § 15-10, § 15-11 lets the City remove it from the abutting sidewalk, and from driveways, parking areas, walkways, steps and fire hydrants at garden apartment developments, nursing homes, office buildings, shopping centers and other properties open to the public for business, billing the cost to the owner through the Superintendent of Public Works and City Council certification.