Pontiac, MI Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 102-222(a) declares the accumulation of snow and ice on paved city sidewalks a nuisance and a threat to public health, safety and welfare, and makes any violation of Article V a municipal civil infraction punishable by a fine of not less than $100.00 nor more than $500.00, plus costs, damages and expenses. Repeat offenses draw higher mandatory minimums: no less than $300.00 plus costs for a first repeat offense and no less than $500.00 plus costs for a second or later repeat, and each day a violation continues counts as a separate offense.

Subsection (b) requires every owner or person in charge of property fronting or abutting a paved sidewalk to remove snow and ice within 24 hours after a fall of snow, sleet or freezing rain stops, and subsection (c) allows sanding or applying an ice-melt agent instead when the ice is too hard to remove without damaging the walk, followed by full cleaning as soon as weather allows. Section 102-223 separately bars depositing snow or ice on a fire hydrant, sidewalk, roadway or transit loading area, though windrowing onto curbs or roadways incident to cleanup is permitted.

Under § 102-224, if the responsible party fails to clear or treat the walk in time, the Department of Public Works and Services may do it and bill the cost as a lien on the abutting property, collected through an April special assessment that adds a ten percent penalty on top of direct and administrative costs, in addition to (not instead of) civil infraction prosecution.