Washoe County, NV Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Adopted under Ordinance No. 370 place the job of clearing storm snow and ice squarely on whoever "owns, has charge or control of, or occupies" the property next to the sidewalk. 365 reaches any "property, building, lot, part of a lot, land or real estate open to public use or abutting on any street or roadway in the unincorporated area of Washoe County," so the duty covers commercial storefronts, vacant lots, and multi-unit buildings as well as single-family homes, and it attaches to whoever is in control of the property, which can mean a tenant or property manager rather than the titled owner.

The obligation applies specifically to ice or snow "resulting from a storm," meaning naturally accumulated precipitation rather than ice formed from another source such as a leaking irrigation line. The code does not specify a fixed number of hours to clear the walk after a storm ends; the statute bars failing, refusing, or neglecting to remove the accumulation once it exists, which leaves the timing question to enforcement discretion. 00, a cap increased from the ordinance's original fine schedule by Ordinance No. 534. Because the code addresses the sidewalk itself and not broader pavement repair, cracked or heaving sidewalk slabs abutting a property are handled separately by the public works department rather than under this snow-and-ice section.