Ohio Sidewalk Snow Removal Liability Framework

Under longstanding Ohio Supreme Court precedent (Lopatkovich v. Tiffin and Brinkman v. Ross), property owners owe no common-law duty to remove natural accumulations of snow and ice from public sidewalks abutting their property. ORC 723.01 places primary responsibility for keeping public ways open and in repair on municipalities themselves. However, ORC 723.011 allows municipalities to enact ordinances requiring abutting owners to clear snow and to assess costs against the property if they fail. Liability for slip-and-fall is generally barred by the open-and-obvious doctrine when ice is naturally accumulated, unless an unnatural accumulation occurs.

Violating a local snow-clearing ordinance enacted under ORC 723.011 typically results in city assessments billed to the property owner; civil tort liability is limited by open-and-obvious doctrine.