Springdale, AR Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

A review of the Springdale Code of Ordinances (Municode) and the City's published Snow-Ice Removal Program page at springdalear.gov/378/Snow-Ice-Removal-Program shows the City's snow program is structured around clearing public streets and bridges on priority routes (Sunset Avenue, Pleasant Street, Emma Avenue, Maple, Robinson, Thompson, Don Tyson, and other arterials) rather than imposing a sidewalk-clearing duty on private property owners. Springdale averages roughly 6-8 inches of snow per year - significantly less than Northwest Arkansas's Boston Mountains or the Ozark Highlands - and the City has not adopted the short-deadline shoveling ordinance that Northeast and Mid-Atlantic cities use. Arkansas's underlying common-law rule is the natural-accumulation doctrine: under cases such as Kuykendall v. Newgent (1973) and progeny, an owner of property abutting a public sidewalk owes no duty to passersby to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice and is generally not liable for slip-and-fall injuries occurring on naturally-accumulated ice on a public sidewalk. Two important exceptions: (1) the owner may not create or aggravate the hazard (e.g., directing downspout water across the walk where it freezes); and (2) once an owner voluntarily undertakes clearing, the work must be performed non-negligently - partial or careless clearing that leaves a more dangerous patch can give rise to voluntary-undertaking liability. Commercial property owners with business invitees on their own premises owe a higher duty under Arkansas premises-liability law and should clear parking lots, entryways, and walkways inside the property line during and after storms. Pedestrian slip-and-fall claims are subject to modified comparative fault under A.C.A. §16-64-122 (recovery barred at 50% fault or greater).