Manchester, CT Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Section 279-13 of the Manchester Code, "Maintenance of sidewalk and tree belt by owner; removal of litter and grass; penalties for offenses," places two separate duties on abutting landowners. Subsection A requires every person owning land upon or adjacent to a sidewalk to maintain that sidewalk in a safe condition for public use at all times, and to remove from it any obstruction or substance, including litter of leaves, grass, gravel or dirt, that could impede or imperil public travel or make the walk unsafe.

Subsection B extends the duty to the tree belt, the strip between the edge of the roadway and the property line: owners must keep its ground surface neat and graded, free of bushes, standing grass and litter, and free of holes or defects that would endanger pedestrians. Subsection C sets the penalty and the process: an owner who violates either duty is fined not less than $5 nor more than $25, plus the cost of correcting the violation if the Town performs the work itself, and the Town must give the owner at least seven days' written notice before doing that corrective work at the owner's expense.

This maintenance duty is distinct from the Town's separate snow-and-ice removal ordinance in Section 279-19 of the same chapter, and from the barrier requirements of Section 279-3 that apply while an obstruction such as a construction excavation is in place. The Department of Public Works, referenced in the chapter's charter notes, is the Town department that administers street and sidewalk obligations under this article.