A cleared building lot showing exposed red clay after site preparation.

Snow Contracts · Commercial

Commercial Snow Removal Contracts in Asheville

Name: M&S Land Management
Address: Asheville, NC, US
Telephone: (828) 540-6856

Signed before the first storm.

A commercial snow contract settles, before the season, when the plow comes, what gets cleared first, what gets salted and where the snow goes. M&S Land Management sets up seasonal, per-push and per-event agreements for HOAs, mountain communities with private roads, churches, offices, retail, short-term rental managers and property managers around Asheville and Western NC.

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Pre-season walk-through

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Snow Contracts · Commercial

How a snow contract is set up

Seasonal, per-push or per-event

There are three common ways to pay for snow work. A seasonal contract is one agreed fee for the winter, however many storms come. A per-push contract bills each plowing pass, so a long storm that needs three passes costs three times one. A per-event contract bills each storm as a unit, with the contract defining what counts as one event and how long it lasts. Salting is often billed per application on top of any of them.

Seasonal suits owners who want a fixed budget and no approvals mid-storm. In a light winter it can cost more than paying as you go. Per-push and per-event follow what actually falls, which suits a winter of two storms and stings in a winter of eight. In Western NC, where some winters bring little and others bring ice after ice, the right type is the one your budget handles better.

What goes in the contract

The trigger: the snow depth that starts plowing, and whether freezing rain or ice starts salting on its own. The route order: where the property falls on the route and which parts of it are done first. The scope: lots, drive lanes, private road, walks, entrances, steps and ramps, each named. Salting: which surfaces, what material, and whether refreeze visits are included. Hauling: whether piles get loaded out when there is no room to push, and where they go.

Then the site map. It marks where snow is pushed, where it must never go, and the edges, curbs, drains, culvert headwalls, islands and anything else a blade could hit under snow. The contract also says how damage is reported and how timing fits the property, such as clearing before Sunday services or before an office opens. Writing it all down keeps the first storm from turning into an argument.

HOAs and mountain communities with private roads

Many mountain communities around Asheville sit on private roads. Buncombe County maintains no roads, and NCDOT plows only what is on the state system, so the association or the neighbors are on their own. A contract for a private road names the full length from the state road to the last house, the steep pitches and switchbacks that get grit, the turnarounds, the mailbox area, any gate and the spot where the road meets the state road.

The association signs one agreement and pays one bill, instead of each owner hiring separately and the plow stopping at a property line. Grades on these roads usually matter more than depth, so the contract should cover ice and refreeze, not just plowing. The guide to private road repair in Western NC covers road maintenance agreements, which often decide who pays for snow as well.

Churches, offices, retail and rentals

Each kind of property needs a different start time. A church needs the lot, walks and steps clear before services, which often means work late Saturday or early Sunday. An office needs the lot open before the first car. Retail needs the entrance cleared and treated before opening and kept that way through the day. Property managers need one schedule across several sites, with the order written down so nobody has to call.

Short-term rental managers have a problem of their own: guests in rental cars arriving at a steep mountain drive they have never seen, often after dark. Clearing ahead of check-in and check-out days, gritting the steep pitch, treating the steps and keeping the turnaround open matter more than depth. Those properties are usually set up with steep driveway plowing and walk clearing on the same agreement.

Walk the site before it snows

Sign before the first storm. In the fall, McKinley walks the property with you while the ground is bare. Edges, drains, culvert ends, curbs, rocks and islands get staked so they can be found under snow. The site map is drawn and agreed, the push areas are picked and the route order is confirmed. A property that signs in the middle of the first storm skips all of that, and the blade finds the hazards the hard way.

For commercial sites in the Upstate around Spartanburg and Greer, the threat is usually an ice event more than snow, so those contracts center on salting and ice management for lots, entrances and walks. If you are comparing bids, the snow and ice contract guide lays out what to ask each contractor, how to line the quotes up and what to get in writing.

A finished driveway running through open pasture.

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Talk to McKinley

(828) 540-6856

Call or text the address and what needs clearing: a lot, a drive, walks or all three. McKinley sets the route and the terms with you before the first snow.

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What it includes

What that covers

Seasonal contracts. One agreed fee for the winter, however many storms come.
Per-push and per-event. Billed by plowing pass or by storm, as defined in writing.
Salting and refreeze. Ice triggers, named surfaces and return visits.
Walks and entrances. Sidewalks, steps and ramps listed as their own line.
Snow hauling. Piles loaded out with the skid steer and dump truck.
Site map and walk-through. Edges and hazards staked in the fall.

Call (828) 540-6856 Free Estimate

More snow and ice work

Main snow page

Snow Removal and Ice Control

Plowing, salting, hauling and walk clearing for homes, private roads and businesses around Asheville.

See the page Snow service

Salting and Ice Management

Pre-treating, salting and refreeze visits for ice storms, freezing rain and shaded mountain grades.

See the page Snow service

Sidewalk and Entrance Clearing

Walks, entrances, steps and ramps cleared and treated so people get from the car to the door safely.

See the page Snow service

Snow Hauling

Snow piles loaded out with the skid steer and dump truck when a tight mountain lot has nowhere to push.

See the page Snow service

Snow Plowing

Lots, private roads, mountain community roads and long drives, plowed in an order set before the season.

See the page

Snow services in the contract

A contract can combine any of the snow services. Most start with snow plowing for lots and private roads and add salting, walks and hauling as the site needs them. The full list is on the snow removal and ice control page, with work across Asheville, Hendersonville, Weaverville, Black Mountain, Waynesville, Fletcher and Brevard.

How a snow customer gets set up

Set up before the first storm.

You call

Call or text with the address, how steep the drive or road is and what needs clearing: lot, drive, walks or all of it.

McKinley walks it

He walks the property before the season, notes the grades, the shaded stretches and where the snow can go.

Terms in writing

Seasonal, per push or per event, the trigger, salt and walks are written down before anyone needs them.

Cleared when it falls

When the storm comes, the property is worked in the agreed order and treated where ice will form.

On the ground

The machines and the crew.

These are photographs from McKinley's actual jobs: the same equipment and the same crew that run the snow routes. See more recent work.

A long gravel driveway running between mown verges to a wooded property in Western North Carolina.

A tracked skid steer with a mulching head clearing woodland.

Freshly laid and crowned gravel on a new driveway surface.

Questions about snow work

Questions people ask

Not seeing yours? Call (828) 540-6856 and ask McKinley, or read the guides.

Answers & guides

All guides

What is the difference between per-push and per-event?

Per-push bills each plowing pass. A storm that needs three passes is billed as three. Per-event bills the whole storm as one unit, however many passes it takes, so the contract has to define what an event is: when it starts, when it ends, and whether a storm that stops and starts again counts once or twice. Salting is often billed per application under either one.

What happens with a seasonal contract in a light winter?

You pay the agreed fee either way. That is the trade: a fixed budget and no approvals, in exchange for paying the same in a quiet winter as in a busy one. Some seasonal contracts cap the number of events covered and bill extra above it. Read that part carefully, and compare it with what per-event would have cost over a few recent winters.

Who signs the contract for a private road?

Usually the HOA or road association, or one neighbor acting for the others under a written agreement. One signer and one bill keeps it simple. If there is no association, the neighbors should agree in writing how the cost is split before the contract is signed, so nobody is left holding the bill for the whole road.

Is salting included in a snow contract?

Only if the contract says so. Many contracts list salting separately, billed per application, because ice events in Western NC do not line up with snow depth. Make sure the contract names which surfaces get treated, whether refreeze visits are included, and what starts salting when there is no snow at all, such as freezing rain.

Why does a snow contract need a site map?

Because snow hides everything a blade can hit. The site map shows where snow goes, where it must never go, and every hazard under it: curbs, drains, culvert ends, islands, rocks, steps and drop-offs. It is agreed at the pre-season walk-through and kept with the contract, so everyone works from the same sheet in the dark at the start of a storm.

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