Worcester, MA Property Maintenance: Snow & Sidewalk Clearing (2026)

Section 23 of Chapter Twelve puts the shoveling duty on "the owner or occupant of land which is bounded by any street, including state highways, whereon there is a sidewalk." The clock starts when a winter storm stops, and the owner or occupant has ten hours to clear all snow, ice or other freezing precipitation from the sidewalk to a width of at least four feet along the entire distance the sidewalk abuts the property. If the cleared sidewalk provides access to a crosswalk, the same four-foot-wide clearing duty extends from the sidewalk to the crosswalk, and if that crosswalk has a pedestrian-activated electronic signal, the owner or occupant must also shovel a path to the button or switch. Once shoveled, if any snow, ice or freezing precipitation remains, the owner or occupant must treat it with sand, salt or other suitable material. The duty does not apply to sidewalks abutting the rear lot line of a property along a state highway that the state itself maintains, a distinction the commissioner publishes and updates.

If the deadline is missed, the city does not have to wait: Section 23(b) lets the city assess a civil penalty under Chapter Fifteen for each calendar day the snow, ice or freezing precipitation stays down, and separately lets the city send its own crews to remove or treat it and bill the owner or occupant for that cost. Unpaid removal costs can also become a municipal charges lien on the property under G.L. c. 40, § 58. The ordinance is explicit that the civil penalty, the removal expense and the lien are "cumulative remedies exercised at the discretion of the city," meaning more than one can apply to the same missed deadline.