Pittsburgh property owners must remove snow and ice from sidewalks within 24 hours of the storm ending. The cleared path must run the full sidewalk width. Where ice cannot be removed, salt, sand, or ash must be applied. Code enforcement issues citations to owners who fail to comply.
Pittsburgh's sidewalk snow ordinance (Title 4, Chapter 419 of the Pittsburgh Code) requires every owner, tenant, or occupant of any premises within the city to remove all snow and ice from the sidewalks abutting the premises within 24 hours after the cessation of any snowfall. The cleared path must extend the full width of the sidewalk, and where ice cannot be removed, owners must apply salt, sand, ashes, or other approved abrasive. The Department of Permits, Licenses, and Inspections (PLI) handles enforcement after complaints to the city's 311 line. Pittsburgh property owners face civil slip-and-fall exposure under Pennsylvania's "hills and ridges" doctrine, which generally requires plaintiffs to prove an unnatural accumulation, but accumulated unaddressed snow on a sidewalk can satisfy that test. The volunteer Snow Angels Pittsburgh program matches elderly and disabled homeowners with neighbors willing to shovel for them throughout the winter season.
Citations carry fines of $100 to $300 per violation, plus court costs. Each 24-hour period of noncompliance constitutes a separate offense. Commercial properties may receive higher citations and be subject to nuisance abatement.
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