Limerick Snow Shoveling: Who Is Responsible, When Does It Need To Happen?

LIMERICK, PA — As the winter months close their icy grip on the Philadelphia region, many residents will find themselves facing one of the winter's most-dreaded - or most-loved - chores: shoveling snow.

Here are a few points to keep in mind as you grab those shovels. According to the township code:

• The owner or occupant of any building or lot abutting a public sidewalk is responsible for and shall remove any accumulation of snow, slush, ice and/or freezing rain from said public sidewalk within 24 hours after the snow, ice or freezing rain has ceased to fall, gather or accumulate.
• The clearing of sidewalks may require continuous acts due to drifting, melting and other situations that require snow and ice to be removed more than once after a single storm.
• All sidewalks shall be cleared to a minimum width of three feet. In the event the snow and/or ice cannot be removed without damaging the sidewalk, an application of sand, salt, cinders or other grit and deicing agents will be an acceptable substitute for clearing.
• Following the clearing of any public sidewalk and during freezing conditions, applications of salt, sand, cinders or other deicing agents shall be applied as necessary to ensure a safe, nonslip surface for pedestrian traffic.
• Clearing of sidewalks shall also include any portion(s) of a driveway crossing a sidewalk area.
• Any/all material removed from a sidewalk and driveway area may not be disposed of in the street, curb gutter or storm inlet areas.
• It shall be unlawful for owners, occupants or tenants of property to dump, throw, shovel, pile or push any snowor ice removed from driveways, walkways or other private property into any public highway, street, road or public right-of-way.
• Any owner or occupant violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be subject to the maximum fine or penalties outlined in Section 1601 of the Second Class Township Code: Civil enforcement.-Except as provided in paragraph (2), when the penalty imposed for the violation of an ordinance enacted pursuant to the provisions of this act is not voluntarily paid to the township, the township shall initiate a civil enforcement proceeding before a district justice. The civil enforcement proceeding shall be initiated by complaint or by such other means as may be provided by the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. An ordinance which is to be enforced through a civil enforcement proceeding may prescribe civil penalties not to exceed six hundred dollars ($600) per violation. In addition to or in lieu of civil actions before a district justice, townships may enforce ordinances in equity. In any case where a penalty for a violation of a township ordinance has not been timely paid and the person upon whom the penalty was imposed is found to have been liable therefor in civil proceedings, the violator shall be liable for the penalty imposed, including additional daily penalties for continuing violations, plus court costs and reasonable attorney fees incurred by the township in the enforcement proceedings. A township shall be exempt from the payment of costs in any civil case brought to enforce an ordinance in accordance with this paragraph.

Link to the full township code for snow and ice removal here.

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