Oak Park, IL Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Oak Park Village Code Section 22-4-8 places the snow-clearing duty on the owner, occupant, lessee or any person legally in possession or control of a lot or parcel in the Village: they must remove and clear away, or cause to be removed or cleared away, all snow and ice on the public sidewalk fronting or abutting that property. Subsection B sets the deadline at twenty four hours after the cessation of any fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain. If the accumulated snow and ice has become so hard it cannot reasonably be cleared without damaging the sidewalk, the responsible person must instead, within that same 24-hour window, spread a reasonable amount of sand, salt or other abrasive material over the entire sidewalk to make it reasonably safe for pedestrians, and complete the actual removal as soon afterward as weather allows.

Subsection C fixes the penalty directly in the section rather than relying on the general code fine: a $30 fine if paid within fourteen days of the violation notice, rising to $50 total (the $30 base plus a $20 additional penalty) if not paid within that fourteen-day window. This section was adopted by Ordinance 2010-0-93 on November 22, 2010, and sits in Chapter 22, Article 4, the same article governing obstructions of and encroachments upon Oak Park's public ways.