EDEN PRAIRIE, MINNESOTA
Eden Prairie gives a commercial property eight daytime hours to clear its public sidewalk. The clock starts when precipitation stops, it only counts 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and it doesn't care whether an inch fell or eight.
That is the gap a trigger-based contract can leave. A lot on a 2 inch trigger doesn't get plowed for an inch and a half, but the sidewalk out front is still due. So we split them. The lot follows the trigger you pick. The sidewalks follow the city: we shovel and salt them after every snowfall.
Our shop and equipment are in Wayzata, and Eden Prairie is already on our commercial route. Every account picks its own trigger depth, and every visit is logged with time stamps and photos.
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1.5 million square feet of commercial lots on contract and counting, for clients including Thunderbird Aviation at Flying Cloud Airport, Holiday Inn Express and Comfort Inn.
A commercial lot is judged at the moment the first car pulls in, not at the end of the storm. Retail needs its drive lanes open before the doors unlock. An office park needs its stalls clear before the first shift. Aviation needs access and parking handled while the weather is still moving.
Crews run the lot at the trigger depth written into your contract, and on daytime storms they come back to keep lanes open while the lot is in use. Snow is stacked where it costs you the fewest stalls and blocks the fewest sight lines.
Routes run with 15 to 20 crew scaled to the storm, and the fleet carries a backup in every equipment class: two wheel loaders, two compact track loaders, three plow trucks and two sidewalk machines. Losing one unit doesn't stop a route.
Where the snow goes matters here. Eden Prairie City Code Section 6.03 makes it a misdemeanor to push snow from private property into a street, sidewalk, trail or other public right-of-way, and each day it stays there is a separate offense. The rule applies to any person, which the code defines to include companies, so it covers whoever is driving the plow. Our crews keep your snow on your property.
Eden Prairie's sidewalk rule is written for the person in charge of the property, not just the name on the deed. City Code Section 6.21 puts the duty on the owner or on whoever has care, custody or control of a commercial building or lot, which means property managers are on the hook as well.
The deadline is the first eight daytime hours after precipitation stops, counted from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A storm that ends at 11:00 p.m. is due by 4:00 p.m. the next day. One that ends at 2:00 p.m. is due by 1:00 p.m. the next day. The full five-foot width of a sidewalk has to be cleared, and a five-foot path on eight-foot trails.
Miss it and the city can serve notice, inspect no sooner than 24 hours later, clear the walk itself and bill you for it, administrative costs included. A bill left unpaid for 30 days can become a special assessment on the property. The city clears some walks and trails itself and marks them on its Sidewalk and Trail Plowing Designation map, and the code leaves it to each owner to check which ones are theirs.
So sidewalks don't wait for the lot trigger. We shovel and salt them after every snowfall.
A cleared lot is only half the job in a Minnesota winter. Meltwater runs across the pavement in the afternoon and sets up as ice when the temperature drops, and that is the surface a slip-and-fall claim gets built on.
We keep 100 tons of salt stored at our shop, so a busy week doesn't leave your lot waiting on a supplier. Applications follow the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's Smart Salting best practices, and every application is recorded in your property's service log.
Every lot has a fixed amount of room for snow, and a long winter uses it up. When the piles start taking stalls or blocking the view at your entrances, pushing harder only makes it worse.
At that point we load the snow out with our wheel loaders and haul it off site in DOT-compliant dump trucks, which gives the lot back its parking and its sight lines. Hauling has its own rules in Eden Prairie too: the code bars moving snow into any public right-of-way, including streets, trails and parks, so it has to go somewhere that is allowed to take it.
Trigger depth decides when crews roll, and it is the biggest single factor in what a contract costs. Commercial accounts in Eden Prairie choose one of four:
Not sure which tier fits? Tell us how the property is used and when people arrive, and we will recommend one.
There is no standard price for a commercial lot, because no two lots are the same. The bid is written for your property, based on lot size, trigger depth, sidewalk footage, and whether snow needs to be hauled off site.
Before the first storm, we map the property's push zones and drains so every crew runs it the same way.
We run Yeti, a snow management platform, on every commercial site. It logs when crews arrive and leave, with site photos for each visit and a record of every salt application.
If someone falls on your property and files a claim, those records show what the conditions were, when a crew was there, and what was applied. We also provide a certificate of insurance naming your business as additionally insured before the first service, and every account gets direct cell numbers for the people running the storm, not a call center.
Our focus in Eden Prairie is commercial, but we take on residential driveways as well. Your driveway is cleared within 10 hours after snowfall stops, on a 2 inch trigger, with rubber cutting edges on every residential truck so pavers and stamped concrete come through the winter intact.
For homes, the city's sidewalk rule is looser: one- and two-family dwellings get 24 hours after precipitation stops to clear the public sidewalk or trail out front.
In Eden Prairie, a Snow Emergency is in effect as soon as accumulation reaches 2 inches, and cars have to stay off city streets until they are plowed curb to curb. The city's goal is to have its full street system cleaned about nine hours after a typical snowfall of 5 inches or less, and the plow that finishes your street can leave a ridge across your entrance. That is worth planning around when you set your trigger and your opening time. Snow removal details from the City of Eden Prairie and the Eden Prairie City Code.
Freshwater Landscaping
3425 Shoreline Dr Ste B, Wayzata, MN 55391
(612) 999-8067
Office: Mon-Sun 8am-6pm
Under City Code Section 6.21, any property other than a one- or two-family home, including commercial, industrial and multifamily buildings and vacant lots, has the first eight daytime hours after precipitation stops to clear the public sidewalk or trail it abuts. Daytime runs from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., so a storm that ends overnight is due by 4:00 p.m. the next day. One- and two-family homes get 24 hours.
Yes. Lots run on the trigger depth in your contract, but sidewalks are shoveled and salted after every snowfall. Eden Prairie's sidewalk rule has no minimum depth, so the walk out front is due even when the lot is not.
No. City Code Section 6.03 makes it a misdemeanor for any person to move snow from private property into a public right-of-way, including streets, sidewalks, trails and parks, without a city contract or written permission. Each day it stays there is a separate offense, and the city can remove it and bill all direct and indirect costs.
Four: zero tolerance, half inch, one inch and two inch. Zero tolerance means crews are on site before the snow starts and clear continuously while it falls. Two inch is the usual choice for a commercial lot.
Every commercial site runs on Yeti, which logs when crews arrive and leave, with photos for each visit and a record of every salt application. If a claim comes up, those records show the conditions, the timing and what was applied.
Yes. Our focus in Eden Prairie is commercial, but residential driveways are cleared within 10 hours after snowfall stops on a 2 inch trigger, using rubber cutting edges on every residential truck. The front walk and steps are included.
Every commercial bid is written for the property, based on lot size, trigger depth, sidewalk footage and whether snow needs to be hauled off site. Contracts can be a seasonal flat rate, per push, or a prepaid bundle of visits and salt applications.
The crews that clear your lot in January maintain commercial grounds the rest of the year, through our commercial landscaping service.
One contract relationship, one set of people who know the property, and no handoff when the season changes.
Routes fill and then we're closed. Tell us about the property: lot size, sidewalk frontage, when people arrive, and whether you need zero tolerance. We'll write the bid for your site.