NY RR L § 171 (2021)
2021 New York Laws RRD - Railroad Article 5 - Street Surface Railroads 171 - Consent of Property Owners and Local Authorities.

§  171.  Consent  of  property owners and local authorities.  A street   surface railroad, or extensions or branches thereof, shall not be built,   extended or operated unless  the  consent  in  writing  acknowledged  or   proved as are deeds entitled to be recorded, of the owners in cities and   villages  of  one-half  in value, and in towns, not within the corporate   limits of a city or village, of the owners of two-thirds  in  value,  of   the  property  bounded  on and also the consent of the local authorities   having control of that portion of a street or highway upon which  it  is   proposed  to  build  or operate such railroad, extension or branch shall   have been first obtained. Such consents of property owners in the county   of Kings which shall be hereafter  executed,  may  be  forfeited  unless   within  sixty  days  after  the  execution  thereof,  the  same shall be   recorded in the office of the register of such county. Such register  is   hereby  directed  upon  the  payment  of  the  proper fees to record all   consents left with him for that purpose in books to be provided  by  him   and  paid  for  out  of  the funds provided to meet the expenses of said   office. Such books shall be  indexed  according  to  the  names  of  the   consenting  property  owners  and  also  according  to  the names of the   streets, roads or other highways upon which the property  to  which  the   consent relates shall be bounded. In case the recording of such consents   shall  be  hindered,  delayed  or  prevented by legal proceedings in any   court or from any other or different cause not within the control of the   corporation upon which such requirement is imposed,  the  time  for  the   performance of such act is hereby and shall be deemed to be extended for   the  period covered by such hindrance, delay or prevention. The consents   of property owners in one city, village or town, or in any  other  civil   division  of  the  state,  shall not be of any effect in any other city,   village or town or other civil  divisions  of  the  state.  Consents  of   property   owners   heretofore  obtained  to  the  building,  extending,   operating or change of motive power shall be effectual for the  purposes   herein  mentioned  and may be deemed to be sufficiently proved and shall   be entitled to be recorded,  wherever  such  consents  shall  have  been   signed,  executed or acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to   take acknowledgments of deeds,  or  before  or  in  the  presence  of  a   subscribing   witness,   and  without  regard  to  whether  or  not  the   subscribing witness shall have affixed his signature in the presence  of   the  subscriber,  provided  that the proof of such signing, execution or   acknowledgment shall have been made by such subscribing witness  in  the   manner prescribed by section three hundred and four of the real property   law.  In  cities  the  common  council,  acting subject to the power now   possessed by the mayor to veto ordinances;  in  villages  the  board  of   trustees; and in towns the superintendent of highways and the town board   shall  be  the  local  authorities  referred to, except that in villages   where the control of the  streets  is  vested  in  any  other  board  or   authorities,  such  other  board  or  authorities  shall  be  the  local   authorities referred  to,  and  the  consent  of  such  other  board  or   authorities  hereafter or heretofore obtained shall be sufficient; if in   any city or county the exclusive control of any street, avenue or  other   property which is to be used or occupied by any such railroad, extension   or  branch,  is  vested  in  any  other  authority,  the consent of such   authority shall also be first obtained. The value of the property  above   specified  shall be ascertained and determined by the assessment-roll of   the city, village or town in which it is situated, completed last before   the local authorities shall have given their  consent,  except  property   owned by such city, village or town, or by the state of New York, or the   United  States  of  America, the value of which shall be ascertained and   determined by making the value thereof to be the same  as  is  shown  by   such  assessment-roll  to  be  the  value  of the equivalent in size and    frontage of the adjacent property on the same street or highway; and the   consent of the local authorities shall operate as consent of such  city,   village  or  town as the owners of such property. Whenever heretofore or   hereafter  a  railroad  has  been  or  shall  be  constructed and put in   operation for one year or the motive power thereof has been or shall  be   changed  and  put  in operation for a similar length of time, such facts   shall be presumptive evidence  that  the  requisite  consents  of  local   authorities,  property  owners  and other authority to the construction,   maintenance and operation of such railroad or  change  of  motive  power   have  been duly obtained. No consent of local authorities given prior to   May second, nineteen hundred and one, shall be deemed invalid because of   any portion of the road or route consented to not being  connected  with   an existing road or route of the corporation obtaining or acquiring such   consent  and all statements of extension filed under section one hundred   and seventy of this article in reference to the route  or  part  thereof   described  in  any  consent of local authorities are hereby ratified and   confirmed, whether the same were filed before or after the obtaining  or   acquiring  of  such  consents,  provided,  however,  that nothing herein   contained shall be construed to affect any portion of a  street  surface   railroad  which is now in or upon any portion of a street which is under   the  jurisdiction  of  a  park  department  in  any  city  containing  a   population of over twelve hundred thousand inhabitants.