Union, NY Sidewalk & Pedestrian Rules: Sidewalk Repair (2026)

Town Code § A208-20, the Pedestrian Policy added by L.L. No. 10-2007, states that property owners and agencies are responsible to construct and maintain pedestrian facilities. Subsection D puts the adjacent sidewalk on the abutting owner or occupant, and on the owner or person entitled to possession of a vacant lot. The same duty reaches any person having charge of a public building. In the Town of Union outside the Villages of Endicott and Johnson City, that means the Town, not the Town Highway Department, expects you to keep the walk in front of your lot in repair.

Sidewalks built under the policy have a minimum width of five feet with a four-and-one-half-foot planting strip, or nine-and-one-half-foot-wide sidewalks in Central Business Districts, and must be constructed continuously across all driveways (§ A208-20(A)).

Snow and ice. Section 178-22 requires the owner of a house or other building, the owner or person entitled to possession of a vacant lot, and any person in charge of a church or public building to keep the adjacent sidewalk, including curb-cut areas providing handicapped access, free from snow and ice. Under § 178-26, accumulations must be removed within five hours from the time snow or ice is deposited or accumulates, or within one hour after notice from the Town Highway Superintendent, a Code Enforcement Officer or another listed official. Notice is deemed given by affixing it to a building on the property or, for vacant land, to the nearest utility pole. If you fail to act, § 178-27 lets the Town remove the snow or ice and have the expense assessed on the property and added to the next annual Town tax.

Related duties. Section 178-23 bars owners from letting snow, ice or water fall from a building onto a street or sidewalk. Section 178-18 conditions any civil action against the Town over a sidewalk defect, snow or ice on written notice, specifying the particular place, given to the Town Clerk or the Town Superintendent of Highways. Sidewalk installation is a private cost: under § A209-11 the Town Board pays 50% of curb and gutter construction it authorizes but nothing toward sidewalks, which are paid 100% by the property owners.