Snow clearing is a municipal duty in Harford County. Bel Air and Havre de Grace both give property owners 24 hours after snow stops to clear the sidewalk abutting their property. Unincorporated county land has no shovel mandate.
There is no countywide snow-clearing law; the towns set the rules. Bel Air's Chapter 410 requires every owner, tenant, and occupant to remove snow and ice from the sidewalk abutting their property within 24 hours after the snow stops falling, and where ice cannot be lifted, to keep it sprinkled with ashes, sand, or a concrete-safe deicer. Havre de Grace's Chapter 190 sets the same 24-hour deadline after a snow or ice event ends and bars pushing cleared snow back onto a plowed street. In unincorporated Harford County no ordinance compels residents to clear a public sidewalk.
In Bel Air and Havre de Grace, failing to clear an abutting sidewalk within 24 hours is a municipal infraction, with fines set by each town's Mayor and Council. Havre de Grace can grade some snow violations as a misdemeanor.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
Harford County, MD
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See how Harford County's snow & sidewalk clearing rules stack up against other locations.
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