Sidewalk Clearing for Landlords · Kitchener
Sidewalk Snow Clearing for Kitchener Landlords and Property Managers
The sidewalk obligation belongs to the owner, not the tenant. A lease clause that says otherwise does not change who the City bills.
Kitchener's downtown and the streets around it carry a lot of rental housing: converted houses off Victoria, Queen and Weber, duplexes and triplexes through Mount Hope and Cherry Hill, and small apartment buildings on the arterials. Every one of them has a sidewalk, and the City's requirement is that the owner has it clear of snow and ice within 24 hours of a snowfall and keeps it to bare pavement afterwards. Enforcement in Kitchener is complaint-driven, and a sidewalk that tenants have left for a week is the sort of thing a neighbour reports.
Why tenants clearing it does not hold up
Many leases make the tenant responsible for snow. As a private arrangement that is fine; as a defence it is not, because the by-law puts the duty on the property owner and the City's remedy is to clear it and add the cost to the tax roll. Tenants also travel over the holidays, move out mid-winter, and own one shovel between five of them. A landlord with several houses is quietly carrying a slip liability on every frontage, which is the real reason this service exists.
What the service is
- The public sidewalk along the frontage, and the side street on a corner lot, cleared after each snowfall that reaches the agreed depth.
- Ice control between snowfalls. The bare-pavement standard is the one that catches people. Salt or sand goes down on refreeze days whether or not it has snowed.
- The path to the door and the steps, if you want them included, which tenants appreciate and which stops the sidewalk being the only thing that is clear.
- Several addresses on one agreement, with one invoice and a visit record per property, so you can answer a tenant or a by-law officer with a date and time.
Windrows and corner lots
On a corner lot the City's own plow can push road snow onto the sidewalk, and the City asks owners to clear those areas. That is included rather than treated as someone else's snow. The windrow across a shared driveway on a narrow downtown lot is a separate question and can be added.
What it is not
It is not a full driveway and parking-area contract, although that can be added for properties with a rear parking pad. It is also not instant: the sidewalks are on a route, and in a heavy storm the route takes as long as it takes. What the owner gets is a sidewalk that is dealt with every time, within the City's window, without a phone call.
Frequently asked questions
Can I put six properties on one contract?
Yes, and it is the normal way to do it. Properties close together are priced as a cluster. Each address is listed in the agreement with what is included, and the invoice is one line per property.
Will you clear the sidewalk if my tenant has already done part of it?
Yes. The visit happens on the route regardless, and whatever is left is cleared and ice-controlled. There is no credit for a half-shovelled frontage, since the truck has still come.
What if the City has already issued a notice?
Call. A notice gives a further 24 hours before the City acts, and a sidewalk can usually be dealt with inside that window and then kept up for the rest of the season. The notice itself is between you and the City.
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