West New York, NJ Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Article III of Chapter 352 in the Code of the Town of West New York (Ord. No. 885, adopted 4-19-1961) puts the snow duty on the people at the property. Under § 352-8, the owner or owners, occupant or occupants, or tenant or tenants of premises abutting or bordering upon any street in the Town must remove all snow and ice from the abutting sidewalk for a distance of four feet from the property line, within 12 hours of daylight after the snow falls or the ice is formed. Owners, occupants and tenants are all named, so the duty does not rest on one of them alone.

Three rules limit how the snow is cleared. Under § 352-9 no one can throw snow or ice from the premises, the sidewalk or an areaway onto a street or thoroughfare after the Town has plowed it open to traffic. Under § 352-10 no snow or ice is thrown in the area of a fire hydrant so as to interfere with its use. Under § 352-11 no snow or ice is thrown upon a crosswalk at an intersection so as to interfere with and impede pedestrians.

If the sidewalk is not cleared, § 352-12 lets the Director of the Department of Public Works have the snow or ice removed forthwith and certify the cost to the governing body. After the governing body examines the certification and finds it correct, the cost is charged against the abutting real estate and becomes a lien and a tax on the land, added to the taxes next to be levied, bearing interest and collected by the same officers in the same manner as other taxes. A fine does not bar the Town from also collecting that cost. The article rests on the authority of N.J.S.A. 40:65-12, as § 352-14 states.