I see a lot of questions pop up about where your property line is at the front yard and a lot of people are getting it wrong.

In Montclair, most public rights of way are 50ft wide, so if you were to measure from the center of your street, 25 ft in each direction, you would find where the property line begins. The wider your street, the closer to the road your property line will be. You can also check the property survey that usually comes with buying a house. The drawn black line your boundary is measured to, does not necessarily correspond with a physical line on the ground. This point, measured from the house, should correspond with the 50ft Right of Way (ROW) measured from the road.

So, if you guessed 'D' you would be correct - in Montclair, this is usually 2-3ft into the yard from the sidewalk.

So now we have established that the town own the road, the grass strip, the sidewalk and part of the front yard, as well as anything on it, does that absolve you of responsibility? Ehhmm, no! The homeowner has a responsibility to maintain all of those areas, including snow shoveling, sidewalk repair and tree maintenance. They can also fine you if you don't do it.