The appellant municipality appealed the dismissal of its third party claim against residential owners and occupants after a pedestrian allegedly slipped on a snow-covered public sidewalk.
The court held that the summary judgment motion was not premature because the third party respondents were entitled to challenge the legal sufficiency of the pleadings at the outset.
Applying the common law duty analysis and the framework governing statutory breach, the court held that owners of property adjacent to public sidewalks owe no common law duty to clear snow and ice absent special circumstances such as assumed control over the sidewalk or hazards emanating from their property.
The municipal by-law requiring snow clearing did not impose civil liability or displace the municipality's statutory duty under the Municipal Act.
The appeal was dismissed with costs.
