Blankenbush, Gabryszak, Hawley, Palmesano, Pretlow, Tenney, Walter
Add S205-c, Hway L; add S124, amd S1683, V & T L
Permits the designation of low volume roads and minimum maintenance roads by town boards and enacts provisions relating to the maintenance, improvement and repair of such roads.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6325
2011-2012 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 14, 2011
___________
Introduced by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the highway law and the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to the maintenance, improvement and repair of certain town
highways
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The highway law is amended by adding a new section 205-c to
2 read as follows:
3 § 205-c. Low volume roads. 1. When used in this section, unless other-
4 wise expressly stated, or unless the context or subject matter otherwise
5 requires, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
6 a. "Low-volume road" shall mean a town highway or portion thereof
7 located in a town, when such highway has an average daily traffic count
8 of less than four hundred motor vehicles per day. Such term shall not
9 apply to any highway or road or portion thereof which has previously
10 been abandoned pursuant to subdivision one of section two hundred five
11 of this article because it shall not have been used or traveled as a
12 highway for six years. Low volume roads may be classified as follows:
13 (i) "Low-volume collector road" shall mean a low-volume road that
14 collects traffic from any other classification and channels it to a
15 higher level road, such as a state highway, arterial or interstate high-
16 way.
17 (ii) "Residential access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
18 provides access to residences. The traffic generated depends on the
19 number of residences. All year access for emergency vehicles and school
20 buses must be provided.
21 (iii) "Resource/industrial access road" shall mean a low-volume road
22 that provides access to forests or industrial or mining operations.
23 Traffic volume can vary and include heavy trucks, extractive machinery
24 and significant numbers of employees' cars.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01732-01-1
A. 6325 2
1 (iv) "Agricultural land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
2 provides access to farm land. Traffic volumes are low and vary
3 seasonally. Such roads shall accommodate farm equipment.
4 (v) "Farm access road" shall mean a low-volume road that provides
5 principal motor vehicle access for the transport of goods and services
6 necessary for effective support of a farm's daily operations to and from
7 the primary location or center of such operations. Traffic volume is
8 generally low, significantly less than four hundred motor vehicles per
9 day, and may include occasional heavy vehicles and farm equipment as
10 well as other motor vehicles.
11 (vi) "Recreation land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
12 provides access to recreational land including seasonal dwellings, parks
13 and recreational lands. Volumes can vary with the type of recreation
14 facility, activity and season of the year.
15 b. "Minimum maintenance road" shall mean a low-volume agricultural or
16 recreational access road or portion thereof with an average daily traf-
17 fic count of less than fifty motor vehicles per day designated by the
18 town as minimum maintenance pursuant to this section, except for a farm
19 access road or a road which provides access to an individual year-round
20 residence at the time it is proposed to be designated minimum mainte-
21 nance. In no way shall the term "minimum maintenance" be construed to
22 mean "no maintenance" or "abandonment", however, such roads may be
23 closed during certain times of the year subject to standards adopted by
24 the town board.
25 c. "Motor vehicle" shall mean a motor vehicle as defined by section
26 one hundred twenty-five of the vehicle and traffic law.
27 2. a. The town board of any town may, by resolution, designate certain
28 town highways as low-volume roads or portions thereof pursuant to the
29 classifications defined in this section. In classifying such roads, the
30 town board shall base the classification on traffic volumes, types of
31 vehicles using the road or portion thereof, and the current adjacent
32 land uses. The town board shall refer proposed classifications to the
33 town highway superintendent and the town planning board, if present in
34 such town.
35 b. Upon receipt of the proposed resolution, the town highway super-
36 intendent and, where applicable, town planning board, shall report their
37 recommendations to the town board, accompanied by a statement of the
38 reasons for such recommendations within forty-five days of receipt. Upon
39 receipt of the recommendations from the town highway superintendent and,
40 where applicable, town planning board, or upon the expiration of forty-
41 five days from the date the proposed resolution was referred, the town
42 board may adopt by majority vote, the local classification resolution.
43 3. a. The town board of any town may, after a public hearing, adopt a
44 local law designating any low-volume road or portion thereof providing
45 agricultural or recreational land access, except for farm access roads
46 or roads that provide access to an individual year-round residence at
47 the time of designation, as a minimum maintenance road. No such law
48 shall restrict farm operations in an agricultural district. Such local
49 law shall not prevent the state from maintaining such road if the road
50 passes over, or provides access to, state land. No such law designating
51 a minimum maintenance road shall be effective until minimum maintenance
52 standards are adopted and signs are posted advising the public that such
53 road is a minimum maintenance road. No road, once designated a minimum
54 maintenance road, shall be determined to have been abandoned pursuant to
55 the provisions of subdivision one of section two hundred five of this
A. 6325 3
1 article solely because it has been designated a minimum maintenance
2 road.
3 b. At least forty-five days prior to the public hearing on such local
4 law the town board having jurisdiction over such road shall issue find-
5 ings that such road or portion thereof should be designated a minimum
6 maintenance road. Such findings shall include, but not be limited to:
7 (i) the volume and type of motor vehicle traffic on such road;
8 (ii) a determination that the property owners of land abutting the
9 road shall continue to have access to their property;
10 (iii) a determination that the users of the road traveling at a
11 reasonable and prudent speed, under the circumstances, shall not be
12 placed in a hazardous situation;
13 (iv) a determination that such road, or portion thereof, does not
14 constitute a farm access road as defined in this section;
15 (v) the effect of such designation on any farm operations dependent
16 upon the road, and that such designation does not restrict farm oper-
17 ations in agricultural districts; and
18 (vi) the standards of maintenance developed in consultation with the
19 town highway superintendent to be provided for such road including, but
20 not limited to, the intention to close such road during certain times of
21 the year.
22 A copy of the town board's findings shall be made available for public
23 inspection in the town clerk's office and posted to the town website if
24 available.
25 A copy of the findings shall be sent to the school board of the school
26 district in which each road is located and to the town planning board.
27 Such school board and planning board may review the findings of the town
28 board and within forty-five days file with the town clerk their recom-
29 mendation and findings. In the event the school or planning board takes
30 no action within the forty-five day review period the town board may
31 proceed without said board's recommendation and findings. School or
32 planning board review may be waived, shortened or extended upon mutual
33 consent of said board and the town board. The town board of the town
34 may, by resolution, accept, accept in part, or reject the recommenda-
35 tions of either the school or planning board prior to any vote upon the
36 proposed local law.
37 A copy of the findings shall also be sent to the department of envi-
38 ronmental conservation or any other relevant state agency that has
39 jurisdiction over the land that the road proposed to be designated as
40 minimum maintenance passes over or provides access to.
41 c. At least thirty days prior to the public hearing on such local law,
42 written notice of such hearing, including a summary of the findings,
43 shall be served by certified mail upon every owner of real property, as
44 determined by the latest completed assessment roll, abutting such road
45 or portion thereof.
46 d. The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication
47 of a notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the
48 town, and post such notice on the town website if available, specifying
49 the time when and the place where such hearing will be held, and in
50 general terms describing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be
51 published once at least five days prior to the day specified for such
52 hearing.
53 4. A road or road segment, which has been designated minimum mainte-
54 nance, shall be maintained at a level which allows the road to be made
55 passable and functional in a manner determined by the town highway
56 superintendent in accordance with the standards developed in consulta-
A. 6325 4
1 tion with the town highway superintendent and adopted by the town board
2 to be consistent with the volume and type of traffic traveling on such
3 road. Such standards shall not restrict access to farmland by a farm
4 operation eligible for agricultural assessment pursuant to article twen-
5 ty-five-AA of the agriculture and markets law. Normal road maintenance
6 practices including, but not limited to, snow and ice removal, paving,
7 patching, blading, dragging or mowing may be done less frequently
8 depending upon the existing conditions and use of the road but shall, at
9 a minimum, be consistent with other superseding standards or guidelines
10 developed pursuant to state law. Minimum maintenance roads shall contin-
11 ue to be part of the town highway system.
12 5. a. Any person or persons owning or occupying real property abutting
13 a road or portion thereof which has been designated a minimum mainte-
14 nance road may petition the town having jurisdiction over such road or
15 portion thereof to discontinue the designation of such road as a minimum
16 maintenance road or to modify the standards of maintenance for such
17 road. Such petition shall be filed with the clerk of the town having
18 jurisdiction over such road. Such petition shall identify the road or
19 portion thereof to be discontinued as a minimum maintenance road and set
20 forth the reasons for such discontinuance or modification. The town
21 board having jurisdiction over such road shall hold a public hearing
22 upon such petition within thirty days after its receipt. The town clerk
23 shall give notice of such hearing by the publication of a notice in at
24 least one newspaper of general circulation in the town, and post such
25 notice on the town website if available, specifying the time when and
26 the place where such hearing will be held, and in general terms describ-
27 ing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be published once at
28 least five days prior to the day specified for such hearing.
29 b. In the event the town board, after such public hearing, determines
30 that such designation or standards shall continue unchanged, no addi-
31 tional petition may be submitted by a person or persons pursuant to this
32 section until the lapse of at least twenty-four months from the date of
33 the filing of the previous petition filed by such person or persons.
34 c. The town board having jurisdiction over a minimum maintenance road
35 may adopt a local law discontinuing such minimum maintenance road desig-
36 nation in the event it determines such discontinuance to be in the
37 public interest.
38 6. Where the minimum maintenance road designation is discontinued, or
39 a low-volume road classification is changed, road improvements may, in
40 addition to other financing mechanisms available for road construction
41 projects, be undertaken in accordance with section two hundred of the
42 town law.
43 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
44 124 to read as follows:
45 § 124. Minimum maintenance road. A low-volume road or portion thereof
46 which is designated by the town having jurisdiction over such road
47 pursuant to section two hundred five-c of the highway law.
48 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 1683 of the vehicle and traffic law is
49 amended by adding a new paragraph 18 to read as follows:
50 18. Designate a road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance road.
51 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
52 it shall have become a law, provided, however, that effective immediate-
53 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
54 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date is
55 authorized to be made and completed on or before such date.
