Montgomery County, VA Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Article III Nuisances Generally, in Chapter 7 Offenses, declares any sidewalk, gutter or curbstone permitted to remain unsafe or out of repair a public nuisance under Sec. 7-54, alongside obstructions and debris left on a sidewalk. Sec. 7-56 assigns the duty of preventing any nuisance condition on real property to each owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or person in charge, and their agents, so the repair duty runs with whoever controls the parcel the sidewalk fronts. Enforcement runs through Sec. 7-57: the county health officer, or an assistant, inspects the county and investigates any complaint from a responsible person, and may enter the premises with reasonable advance notice unless notice would defeat the purpose.

For a physical condition like a broken sidewalk, the officer issues written notice describing the unsafe condition and giving no more than 10 days to fix it. The owner, occupant or person in charge may appeal to the Board of Supervisors within 2 days of being served, which stays the notice until the board rules, and the board's decision is final. If the officer finds the hazard imminent, immediate compliance can be required instead of the 10-day window. Ignore a final notice and the county directs its own crew to fix the sidewalk, then bills the cost to the addressee and collects it the same way it collects county taxes, effectively as a lien.

Sec. 7-51 makes this abatement track supplemental to any other remedy, and Sec. 7-53 separately makes maintaining any nuisance a misdemeanor offense regardless of the civil abatement process.