Every owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person having charge of any building or lot of ground in the City of Middletown abutting upon any street, avenue or public place shall and must, where said building or lot of ground is within the established fire limits of said City, as they now exist or hereafter may exist, within six hours, and in all other places within 12 hours, after the cessation of every fall of snow or the formation of any ice on the sidewalk abutting said building or lot of ground remove or cause the said snow or ice to be removed or cleared entirely from the said sidewalk abutting said building or lot of ground, provided, however, that the time between the hours of 7:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. shall not be included in the above periods of said six hours or said 12 hours, and also provided that in case the snow or ice on any sidewalk abutting said building or lot of ground shall be frozen so hard that it cannot be removed without injury to the pavement, the owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person or persons having charge thereof shall, within the times and places hereinabove specified, cover or cause said abutting sidewalk to be covered and strewn with either sifted ashes or sand or some similar material (excepting sawdust) and shall, as soon thereafter as the weather will permit, thoroughly clean said sidewalk and remove said ice and snow therefrom. Any owner, lessee, tenant, occupant or other person having charge of any building or lot of ground abutting upon any street, avenue or public place for a continuous linear distance of 500 feet or more shall be considered to have complied with this article if such persons shall have begun to remove the snow and ice from the sidewalk before the expiration of the times hereinabove mentioned and shall, without suspending work thereon, continue such removal and shall complete the same within a reasonable time.

Failure to comply with the provisions of § 403-12 of this article shall constitute a violation thereof and, in addition, the Commissioner of Public Works may, after the expiration of the time limits prescribed in § 403-12, proceed to clean or cover said sidewalk as provided by this article, and a report of the cost and expense of doing said work shall be submitted to the Treasurer and shall then become a lien against the property where said work was performed. The cost and expense of doing said work for single-family residential properties shall not be less than $100, nor more than $350. The cost and expense of doing said work for two-family and multifamily residential properties shall not be less than $250, nor more than $750. The cost and expense of doing said work for commercial and industrial properties shall not be less than $500, nor more than $1,000. The cost and expense for doing said work for all properties shall be not less than $250, nor more than $1,000.

A violation of any provision of this article is an offense punishable, upon conviction, by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $1,000 or by imprisonment for a period not exceeding 15 days, or by both such fine and imprisonment. Each day that a violation is permitted to exist shall constitute a separate offense.