ANGEL ALBERTO PAREJA VS. PRINCETON INTERNATIONAL PROPERTIES, ET AL. (L-2283-16, MERCER COUNTY AND STATEWIDE) (A-2111-18T3)
The court rejected the applicability of the ongoing-storm rule, which arbitrarily relieves commercial landowners from any obligation to try to render their property safe while sleet or snow is falling. The court held a commercial landowner has a duty to take reasonable steps to render a public walkway abutting its property—covered by snow or ice—reasonably safe. The court imposed a duty of ordinary care and identified factors to consider when determining whether the landowner breached that duty, emphasizing that reasonableness is the polestar.
