Permits the designation of low volume roads and minimum maintenance roads by town boards; enacts provisions relating to the maintenance, improvement and repair of such roads; removes the limitation that such provisions only apply to a designated town.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7393
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
April 14, 2025
___________
Introduced by Sens. GRIFFO, ASHBY, GALLIVAN, HELMING, MAY, WALCZYK --
read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to
the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the highway law, in relation to minimum maintenance
roads by towns
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 205-c of the highway law, as added by chapter 690
2 of the laws of 2023, subdivision 5 as added by chapter 108 of the laws
3 of 2024, is amended to read as follows:
4 § 205-c. Minimum maintenance roads. 1. a. The town board of any town
5 may, by resolution, designate certain town highways as low-volume roads
6 or portions thereof pursuant to the classifications defined in this
7 section. In classifying such roads, the town board shall base the clas-
8 sification on traffic volumes, types of vehicles using the road or
9 portion thereof, and the current adjacent land uses. The town board
10 shall refer proposed classifications to the town highway superintendent
11 and the town planning board, if present in such town.
12 b. Upon receipt of the proposed resolution, the town highway super-
13 intendent and, where applicable, town planning board, shall report their
14 recommendations to the town board, accompanied by a statement of the
15 reasons for such recommendations within forty-five days of receipt.
16 Upon receipt of the recommendations from the town highway superintendent
17 and, where applicable, town planning board, or upon the expiration of
18 forty-five days from the date the proposed resolution was referred, the
19 town board may adopt by majority vote, the local classification resol-
20 ution.
21 2. a. The town board of any [designated] town may, after a public
22 hearing, adopt a local law designating any low-volume road or portion
23 thereof providing agricultural or recreational land access, except for
24 farm access roads or roads that provide access to an individual year-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD11371-02-5
S. 7393 2
1 round residence at the time of designation, as a minimum maintenance
2 road. No such law shall restrict farm operations in an agricultural
3 district. Such local law shall not prevent the state from maintaining
4 such road if the road passes over, or provides access to, state land. No
5 such law designating a minimum maintenance road shall be effective until
6 minimum maintenance standards are adopted and signs are posted advising
7 the public that such road is a minimum maintenance road. No road, once
8 designated a minimum maintenance road, shall be determined to have been
9 abandoned pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of section two
10 hundred five of this article solely because it has been designated a
11 minimum maintenance road.
12 b. At least forty-five days prior to the public hearing on such local
13 law the town board having jurisdiction over such road shall issue find-
14 ings that such road or portion thereof should be designated a minimum
15 maintenance road. Such findings shall include, but not be limited to:
16 (i) the volume and type of motor vehicle traffic on such road;
17 (ii) a determination that the property owners of land abutting the
18 road shall continue to have access to their property;
19 (iii) a determination that the users of the road traveling at a
20 reasonable and prudent speed, under the circumstances, shall not be
21 placed in a hazardous situation;
22 (iv) a determination that such road, or portion thereof, does not
23 constitute a farm access road as defined in this section; [and]
24 (v) the effect of such designation on any farm operations dependent
25 upon the road, and that such designation does not restrict farm oper-
26 ations in agricultural districts[.]; and
27 (vi) the standards of maintenance developed in consultation with the
28 town highway superintendent to be provided for such road including, but
29 not limited to, the intention to close such road during certain times of
30 the year.
31 A copy of the town board's findings shall be made available for public
32 inspection in the town clerk's office and posted to the town website if
33 available.
34 A copy of the findings shall be sent to the school board of the school
35 district in which each road is located and to the town planning board.
36 Such school board and planning board may review the findings of the town
37 board and within forty-five days file with the town clerk their recom-
38 mendation and findings. In the event the school or planning board takes
39 no action within the forty-five day review period the town board may
40 proceed without said board's recommendation and findings. School or
41 planning board review may be waived, shortened or extended upon mutual
42 consent of said board and the town board. The town board of the town
43 may, by resolution, accept, accept in part, or reject the recommenda-
44 tions of either the school or planning board prior to any vote upon the
45 proposed local law.
46 A copy of the findings shall also be sent to the department of envi-
47 ronmental conservation or any other relevant state agency that has
48 jurisdiction over the land that the road proposed to be designated as
49 minimum maintenance passes over or provides access to.
50 c. At least thirty days prior to the public hearing on such local law,
51 written notice of such hearing, including a summary of the findings,
52 shall be served by certified mail upon every owner of real property, as
53 determined by the latest completed assessment roll, abutting such road
54 or portion thereof.
55 d. The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication
56 of a notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the
S. 7393 3
1 town, and post such notice on the town website if available, specifying
2 the time when and the place where such hearing will be held, and in
3 general terms describing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be
4 published once at least five days prior to the day specified for such
5 hearing.
6 [2.] 3. A road or road segment located within a [designated] town,
7 which has been designated minimum maintenance, shall be maintained at
8 the same level as other roads within the town but shall not require snow
9 and ice removal and maintenance. Such level of maintenance shall not
10 restrict access to farmland by a farm operation eligible for agricul-
11 tural assessment pursuant to article twenty-five-AA of the agriculture
12 and markets law. Minimum maintenance roads shall continue to be part of
13 the town highway system.
14 [3.] 4. a. Any person or persons owning or occupying real property
15 abutting a road or portion thereof which has been designated a minimum
16 maintenance road may petition the town having jurisdiction over such
17 road or portion thereof to discontinue the designation of such road as a
18 minimum maintenance road. Such petition shall be filed with the clerk of
19 the town having jurisdiction over such road. Such petition shall identi-
20 fy the road or portion thereof to be discontinued as a minimum mainte-
21 nance road and set forth the reasons for such discontinuance or modifi-
22 cation. The town board having jurisdiction over such road shall hold a
23 public hearing upon such petition within thirty days after its receipt.
24 The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication of a
25 notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the town, and
26 post such notice on the town website if available, specifying the time
27 when and the place where such hearing will be held, and in general terms
28 describing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be published once
29 at least five days prior to the day specified for such hearing.
30 b. In the event the town board, after such public hearing, determines
31 that such designation shall continue unchanged, no additional petition
32 may be submitted by a person or persons pursuant to this section until
33 the lapse of at least twenty-four months from the date of the filing of
34 the previous petition filed by such person or persons.
35 c. The town board having jurisdiction over a minimum maintenance road
36 may adopt a local law discontinuing such minimum maintenance road desig-
37 nation in the event it determines such discontinuance to be in the
38 public interest.
39 [4.] 5. When used in this section, unless otherwise expressly stated,
40 or unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, the follow-
41 ing terms shall have the following meanings:
42 a. "Low-volume road" shall mean a town highway or portion thereof
43 located in a [designated] town, when such highway has an average daily
44 traffic count of less than four hundred motor vehicles per day. Such
45 term shall not apply to any highway or road or portion thereof which has
46 previously been abandoned pursuant to subdivision one of section two
47 hundred five of this article because it shall not have been used or
48 traveled as a highway for six years.
49 b. "Agricultural land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
50 provides access to farm land. Traffic volumes are low and vary
51 seasonally.
52 c. "Farm access road" shall mean a low-volume road that provides prin-
53 cipal motor vehicle access for the transport of goods and services
54 necessary for effective support of a farm's daily operations to and from
55 the primary location or center of such operations. Traffic volume is
56 generally low, significantly less than four hundred motor vehicles per
S. 7393 4
1 day, and may include occasional heavy vehicles and farm equipment as
2 well as other motor vehicles.
3 d. "Recreation land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
4 provides access to recreational land including seasonal dwellings, parks
5 and recreational lands. Volumes can vary with the type of recreation
6 facility, activity and season of the year.
7 e. "Minimum maintenance road" shall mean a low-volume agricultural or
8 recreational access road or portion thereof with an average daily traf-
9 fic count of less than fifty motor vehicles per day designated by the
10 [designated] town as minimum maintenance pursuant to this section,
11 except for a farm access road or a road which provides access to an
12 individual year-round residence at the time it is proposed to be desig-
13 nated minimum maintenance.
14 f. "Motor vehicle" shall mean a motor vehicle as defined by section
15 one hundred twenty-five of the vehicle and traffic law.
16 [g. "Designated town" shall mean the town of Lorraine, Jefferson coun-
17 ty.
18 5.] 6. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting, dimin-
19 ishing or otherwise affecting the powers of any municipality other than
20 the [designated] town.
21 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day
22 after it shall have become a law; provided, however, that the amendments
23 to section 205-c of the highway law made by section one of this act
24 shall not affect the repeal of such section and shall be deemed repealed
25 therewith. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal
26 of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act
27 on its effective date are authorized to be made on or before such date.
