Reading, PA Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Reading's sidewalk-clearing duty is anchored in the Third Class City Code authority at 53 P.S. §39001 et seq. (sidewalk repair and maintenance powers) and codified locally at §508-202 of the Codified Ordinances. The local section reads, in substance, that every person in charge or control of any building or lot of land within the City of Reading fronting or abutting on a paved sidewalk must remove and clear away snow and ice from a path of at least 36 inches in width and from an area within 36 inches of every fire hydrant on every sidewalk which is in front of or abuts on such building or lot of land. The accompanying Quality of Life provision QOL.012 supplies the time limits Reading inspectors actually cite: 2 hours after precipitation ceases for sidewalks abutting Reading's designated main streets (e.g., Penn Street, Lancaster Avenue, North 5th Street, Schuylkill Avenue arterial network) and 4 hours after precipitation ceases for all other sidewalks. If snow and ice on a sidewalk has become so hard that it cannot be removed without likelihood of damage to the sidewalk, the person charged with its removal must apply enough cinder or other abrasive to make travel reasonably safe. The duty applies to both occupied and vacant properties, runs with ownership rather than tenancy (although leases may shift the practical responsibility), and is non-delegable - hiring a contractor who fails to perform does not excuse the citation. The City does not provide municipal sidewalk clearing for residential blocks; Public Works clears the cartway, and the abutting owner is responsible for the sidewalk and curb cut.