STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
S. 6249 A. 6412
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
SENATE - ASSEMBLY
April 6, 2023
___________
IN SENATE -- Introduced by Sen. WALCZYK -- read twice and ordered print-
ed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Transporta-
tion
IN ASSEMBLY -- Introduced by M. of A. BARCLAY -- read once and referred
to the Committee on Transportation
AN ACT to amend the highway law and the vehicle and traffic law, in
relation to establishing minimum maintenance roads in designated
towns; and providing for the repeal of such provisions upon expiration
thereof
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. Minimum maintenance roads. 1. a. The town board of any desig-
4 nated town may, after a public hearing, adopt a local law designating
5 any low-volume road or portion thereof providing agricultural or recre-
6 ational land access, except for farm access roads or roads that provide
7 access to an individual year-round residence at the time of designation,
8 as a minimum maintenance road. No such law shall restrict farm oper-
9 ations in an agricultural district. Such local law shall not prevent the
10 state from maintaining such road if the road passes over, or provides
11 access to, state land. No such law designating a minimum maintenance
12 road shall be effective until signs are posted advising the public that
13 such road is a minimum maintenance road. No road, once designated a
14 minimum maintenance road, shall be determined to have been abandoned
15 pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of section two hundred
16 five of this article solely because it has been designated a minimum
17 maintenance road.
18 b. At least forty-five days prior to the public hearing on such local
19 law the town board having jurisdiction over such road shall issue find-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10171-02-3
S. 6249 2 A. 6412
1 ings that such road or portion thereof should be designated a minimum
2 maintenance road. Such findings shall include, but not be limited to:
3 (i) the volume and type of motor vehicle traffic on such road;
4 (ii) a determination that the property owners of land abutting the
5 road shall continue to have access to their property;
6 (iii) a determination that the users of the road traveling at a
7 reasonable and prudent speed, under the circumstances, shall not be
8 placed in a hazardous situation;
9 (iv) a determination that such road, or portion thereof, does not
10 constitute a farm access road as defined in this section; and
11 (v) the effect of such designation on any farm operations dependent
12 upon the road, and that such designation does not restrict farm oper-
13 ations in agricultural districts.
14 A copy of the town board's findings shall be made available for public
15 inspection in the town clerk's office and posted to the town website if
16 available.
17 A copy of the findings shall be sent to the school board of the school
18 district in which each road is located and to the town planning board.
19 Such school board and planning board may review the findings of the town
20 board and within forty-five days file with the town clerk their recom-
21 mendation and findings. In the event the school or planning board takes
22 no action within the forty-five day review period the town board may
23 proceed without said board's recommendation and findings. School or
24 planning board review may be waived, shortened or extended upon mutual
25 consent of said board and the town board. The town board of the town
26 may, by resolution, accept, accept in part, or reject the recommenda-
27 tions of either the school or planning board prior to any vote upon the
28 proposed local law.
29 A copy of the findings shall also be sent to the department of envi-
30 ronmental conservation or any other relevant state agency that has
31 jurisdiction over the land that the road proposed to be designated as
32 minimum maintenance passes over or provides access to.
33 c. At least thirty days prior to the public hearing on such local law,
34 written notice of such hearing, including a summary of the findings,
35 shall be served by certified mail upon every owner of real property, as
36 determined by the latest completed assessment roll, abutting such road
37 or portion thereof.
38 d. The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication
39 of a notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the
40 town, and post such notice on the town website if available, specifying
41 the time when and the place where such hearing will be held, and in
42 general terms describing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be
43 published once at least five days prior to the day specified for such
44 hearing.
45 2. A road or road segment located within a designated town, which has
46 been designated minimum maintenance, shall be maintained at the same
47 level as other roads within the town but shall not require snow and ice
48 removal and maintenance. Such level of maintenance shall not restrict
49 access to farmland by a farm operation eligible for agricultural assess-
50 ment pursuant to article twenty-five-AA of the agriculture and markets
51 law. Minimum maintenance roads shall continue to be part of the town
52 highway system.
53 3. a. Any person or persons owning or occupying real property abutting
54 a road or portion thereof which has been designated a minimum mainte-
55 nance road may petition the town having jurisdiction over such road or
56 portion thereof to discontinue the designation of such road as a minimum
S. 6249 3 A. 6412
1 maintenance road. Such petition shall be filed with the clerk of the
2 town having jurisdiction over such road. Such petition shall identify
3 the road or portion thereof to be discontinued as a minimum maintenance
4 road and set forth the reasons for such discontinuance or modification.
5 The town board having jurisdiction over such road shall hold a public
6 hearing upon such petition within thirty days after its receipt. The
7 town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication of a
8 notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the town, and
9 post such notice on the town website if available, specifying the time
10 when and the place where such hearing will be held, and in general terms
11 describing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be published once
12 at least five days prior to the day specified for such hearing.
13 b. In the event the town board, after such public hearing, determines
14 that such designation shall continue unchanged, no additional petition
15 may be submitted by a person or persons pursuant to this section until
16 the lapse of at least twenty-four months from the date of the filing of
17 the previous petition filed by such person or persons.
18 c. The town board having jurisdiction over a minimum maintenance road
19 may adopt a local law discontinuing such minimum maintenance road desig-
20 nation in the event it determines such discontinuance to be in the
21 public interest.
22 4. When used in this section, unless otherwise expressly stated, or
23 unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, the following
24 terms shall have the following meanings:
25 a. "Low-volume road" shall mean a town highway or portion thereof
26 located in a designated town, when such highway has an average daily
27 traffic count of less than four hundred motor vehicles per day. Such
28 term shall not apply to any highway or road or portion thereof which has
29 previously been abandoned pursuant to subdivision one of section two
30 hundred five of this article because it shall not have been used or
31 traveled as a highway for six years.
32 b. "Agricultural land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
33 provides access to farm land. Traffic volumes are low and vary
34 seasonally.
35 c. "Farm access road" shall mean a low-volume road that provides prin-
36 cipal motor vehicle access for the transport of goods and services
37 necessary for effective support of a farm's daily operations to and from
38 the primary location or center of such operations. Traffic volume is
39 generally low, significantly less than four hundred motor vehicles per
40 day, and may include occasional heavy vehicles and farm equipment as
41 well as other motor vehicles.
42 d. "Recreation land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
43 provides access to recreational land including seasonal dwellings, parks
44 and recreational lands. Volumes can vary with the type of recreation
45 facility, activity and season of the year.
46 e. "Minimum maintenance road" shall mean a low-volume agricultural or
47 recreational access road or portion thereof with an average daily traf-
48 fic count of less than fifty motor vehicles per day designated by the
49 designated town as minimum maintenance pursuant to this section, except
50 for a farm access road or a road which provides access to an individual
51 year-round residence at the time it is proposed to be designated minimum
52 maintenance.
53 f. "Motor vehicle" shall mean a motor vehicle as defined by section
54 one hundred twenty-five of the vehicle and traffic law.
55 g. "Designated town" shall mean the town of Lorraine, Jefferson coun-
56 ty.
S. 6249 4 A. 6412
1 § 2. The vehicle and traffic law is amended by adding a new section
2 124 to read as follows:
3 § 124. Minimum maintenance road. A low-volume road or portion thereof
4 which is designated by the town having jurisdiction over such road
5 pursuant to section two hundred five-c of the highway law.
6 § 3. Subdivision (a) of section 1683 of the vehicle and traffic law is
7 amended by adding a new paragraph 18 to read as follows:
8 18. Designate a road or portion thereof as a minimum maintenance road.
9 § 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
10 it shall have become a law and shall expire and be deemed repealed 8
11 years after it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the addi-
12 tion, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for
13 the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to
14 be made and completed on or before such effective date.
