Its snowed! Many of you are waking up to a beautiful blanket of white fluffy snow this February morning. As lovely and peaceful as the snow may be there are some requirements we want to remind homeowners of. The City of Montrose has a municipal code around sidewalk maintenance. The HOA is responsible for the common area sidewalks, we have volunteer homeowners who take care of the common areas closest to them and this has been a huge help to the HOA during these weather events, and a benefit to you as a homeowner to be able to walk your pet during these winter events and gain access to the doggy potty stations as well as the open spaces our common elements provide. In short, the sidewalk in front of your home is your responsibility to maintain. Meaning when it snows it is your responsibility to remove that snow to allow safe passage for pedestrians. There is also some degree of liability on the homeowner, should a pedestrian slip and fall. So be sure to do your best to take care of your sidewalk and do your part to keep our community safe.
City of Montrose municipal code ordinance Sec. 9-4-1. – Removal of snow and/or ice.
(A)
Generally. The owner, occupant, or agent of the owner of any building, property, or vacant lot in the City are jointly and severally responsible to maintain the sidewalks, parking area, and curbs, or the area from the property line to the gutter or edge of the public roadway, adjoining the building, property, or vacant lot in a clean condition and required to remove snow and ice from adjoining sidewalks within a reasonable time after every snowfall in order to give safe passage to pedestrians.
(B)
The obligation to remove snow and ice from the adjoining sidewalk imposed by this Section shall not extend to the removal of snow and ice deposited upon that property lying parallel to the sidewalk or the curb of the adjacent roadway, but not physically on the sidewalk, as a result of snow removal from the adjacent roadways by the City. However, the owner, occupant, or agent of the owner of any building or property, or vacant lot, is required to remove snow deposited upon a sidewalk or driveway or parking area by snow removal operations of the City or the State of Colorado.
(Code 2012, § 9-4-1; Ord. No. 2178 , 1-17-2008)
