Ramapo, NY Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Ramapo Code Section 243-1 puts the duty to keep abutting sidewalks clear on the property owner and occupant: after a sidewalk is laid, they are required to keep the sidewalk in front of the premises free and clear from snow, ice, dirt and other obstruction. Section 243-2 sets the clock: cleaning must take place within 12 hours from the time the snow, ice, dirt or obstruction falls or is placed on the sidewalk, so an overnight snowfall must be cleared by the following morning regardless of when the storm ends.

If the owner or occupant misses that twelve-hour window, Section 243-3 lets the Town Board send its own crews to remove the snow, ice, dirt or obstruction and charge the cost to the property; the charge becomes a lien on the premises until paid, and the owner and occupant are also personally liable for it. The Town Board can additionally go to court for an injunction against repeat violators under Section 243-5. Because Article I was adopted for the unincorporated Town, Section 243-4 expressly excludes any sidewalk inside an incorporated village, so this twelve-hour rule does not reach sidewalks in Spring Valley, Suffern, New Square, Kaser, Airmont, Chestnut Ridge, Montebello, Pomona, Sloatsburg or Wesley Hills, each of which enforces its own snow-clearing law.