Portland, ME Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Chapter 25 of Portland's Code of Ordinances (Streets, Sidewalks and Other Public Places, revised 7-1-2026) makes sidewalk snow and ice removal a duty of the abutting property owner, manager, or person responsible for the building or lot, not the city. Commercial property owners must clear a path at least four feet wide within twelve hours after snow stops falling, including snow the city pushes onto the sidewalk during street plowing, and must keep clearing a curb cut or intersection curb to preserve access to abutting ADA ramps.

Residential property owners get eighteen hours after snowfall ends, or eighteen hours after the city finishes its last plow pass on that street, whichever is later; where the sidewalk itself is under four feet wide, the entire width must be cleared. Ice is treated separately: commercial owners must make an icy sidewalk safe, by removal or by sanding, within six hours once ice has covered it for six hours or more, while residential owners get eighteen hours before the same duty attaches. The Director of Public Works or the Director of the Permitting and Inspections Department may send a city crew to clear a non-compliant sidewalk and bill the record owner (as shown on the April 1 tax assessor roll) the cost of removal plus a 10% administrative surcharge, separate from any fine. The rule runs for the full 'snow season,' defined in § 25-172 as November 1 through April 30 of the following year.