As temperatures rise, uncleared snow on sidewalks have melted and turned into ice overnight, posing a hazard to pedestrians.
In 2026 so far, there have been 736 complaints filed with Columbus Building and Zoning Services concerning a lack of snow and ice removal on sidewalks or interior walkways, the department's Deputy Director Anthony Celebrezze said in an email.
Of those complaints, 265 have resulted in compliance.
According to Columbus City Code, property owners or tenants (it specifically depends on how the expectation is outlined in a lease) are responsible for clearing snow and ice from sidewalks.
Additionally, there is a code section that requires snow and debris to be removed from interior sidewalks and driveways, Celebrezze said.
Natalie Bruck, a first-year Ohio State student who lives off-campus on Highland Street, said the block she lives on has done a nice job with clearing sidewalks, but the surrounding area is a different story.
“Right when I get off my block, it has been like black ice, and ice where you're kind of like running in place almost, because it's so icy, and that's been really annoying,” Bruck said. “But it's nice later in the days after the sun's been out, when the ice has melted into water. But yeah, it's been kind of difficult to quickly walk to class. It just takes more time to be careful to not slip.”
Celebrezze said the process to make a complaint that may result in cleared snow or ice is to call the city’s 311 line. Once a complaint is received, code enforcement will go out and evaluate the property in question within 24 to 48 hours. Then, a violation is filed, and the notice allows the tenant, owner or management company five days to eliminate the obstacle.
After that deadline, Celebrezze said code enforcers will reinspect. If there is still a lack of compliance with city code, another violation will be issued with a new deadline to make changes. After that new deadline passes, the responsible party may be taken to environmental court if standards are still unmet.
However, Celebrezze said no violations have resulted in court action this year, despite the lack of compliance.
"Going to court is a last ditch effort for us," Celebrezze said in an email. "If an owner can show some work toward compliance, we usually allow them additional time to comply before we would consider taking them to court. If they do not attempt to comply then we will create a court packet, [and] give it to [the] city attorney. They review and either ask for additional information or file it with the court."
Yeshiyuan Xiong, a third-year student at Ohio State, said the area outside her apartment — The Griff near Kinnear Road — including the parking lot, is still icy.
“Today, in the morning, when I was walking, there was a guy behind me,” Xiong said. “I literally saw, he tried to pass me, and then he actually slipped, almost fell. So I actually saw many people almost fall, and then no one actually cares about the problem.”
Building and Zoning Services attempts to continue to pursue violations if people do not comply. However, with 220 square miles of city and limited resources, Celebrezze said officials act generally as a reactive agency. Filing a complaint through the 311 line is the best route to get a code officer out to inspect and potentially issue a violation.
Josh Hickman, the University Area Commissioner representing District 1, chair of the Planning and Development Committee and an Ohio State student himself, said — speaking on behalf of himself as a commissioner, not for the whole commission — that he has seen the issue of dangerous walkways up close and personal.
“I live over on Frambes, and I see it firsthand every day when I'm trying to get to class or get to work,” Hickman said. “I honestly have to take the streets instead of the sidewalks, just because they're pretty unwalkable. So I think informally, even though people aren't necessarily bringing the attention [of unsafe sidewalks] to our [UAC] meetings in the past couple months, conversations amongst neighbors, among students, long term residents, have definitely been happening around this issue.”
Hickman said the University Area Commission continues to encourage residents to use the 311 line to report issues.
“By reporting it, it's very likely that at least code enforcement will have to come through and at least check it out, which increases the likelihood that you will get it shoveled,” Hickman said.