2023 New York Laws › HAY - Highway › Article 8 - Town Highways › 205-C - Minimum Maintenance Roads.

* §  205-c.  Minimum  maintenance  roads.  1. a. The town board of any
designated  town  may,  after  a  public  hearing,  adopt  a  local  law
designating   any   low-volume   road   or   portion  thereof  providing
agricultural or recreational land access, except for farm  access  roads
or  roads  that  provide access to an individual year-round residence at
the time of designation, as a minimum  maintenance  road.  No  such  law
shall  restrict  farm operations in an agricultural district. Such local
law shall not prevent the state from maintaining such road if  the  road
passes  over, or provides access to, state land. No such law designating
a minimum maintenance road shall be effective  until  signs  are  posted
advising  the  public  that  such road is a minimum maintenance road. No
road, once designated a minimum maintenance road, shall be determined to
have been abandoned pursuant to the provisions  of  subdivision  one  of
section  two  hundred  five  of  this article solely because it has been
designated a minimum maintenance road.
b. At least forty-five days prior to the public hearing on such  local
law  the  town  board  having  jurisdiction  over  such road shall issue
findings that such road  or  portion  thereof  should  be  designated  a
minimum  maintenance  road.  Such  findings  shall  include,  but not be
limited to:
(i) the volume and type of motor vehicle traffic on such road;
(ii) a determination that the property owners  of  land  abutting  the
road shall continue to have access to their property;
(iii)  a  determination  that  the  users  of  the road traveling at a
reasonable and prudent speed, under  the  circumstances,  shall  not  be
placed in a hazardous situation;
(iv)  a  determination  that  such  road, or portion thereof, does not
constitute a farm access road as defined in this section; and
(v) the effect of such designation on any  farm  operations  dependent
upon  the  road,  and  that  such  designation  does  not  restrict farm
operations in agricultural districts.
A copy of the town board's findings shall be made available for public
inspection in the town clerk's office and posted to the town website  if
available.
A copy of the findings shall be sent to the school board of the school
district  in  which each road is located and to the town planning board.
Such school board and planning board may review the findings of the town
board and  within  forty-five  days  file  with  the  town  clerk  their
recommendation  and  findings. In the event the school or planning board
takes no action within the forty-five day review period the  town  board
may  proceed without said board's recommendation and findings. School or
planning board review may be waived, shortened or extended  upon  mutual
consent  of  said  board  and the town board. The town board of the town
may,  by  resolution,  accept,   accept   in   part,   or   reject   the
recommendations of either the school or planning board prior to any vote
upon the proposed local law.
A  copy  of  the  findings  shall  also  be  sent to the department of
environmental conservation or any other relevant state agency  that  has
jurisdiction  over  the  land that the road proposed to be designated as
minimum maintenance passes over or provides access to.
c. At least thirty days prior to the public hearing on such local law,
written notice of such hearing, including a  summary  of  the  findings,
shall  be served by certified mail upon every owner of real property, as
determined by the latest completed assessment roll, abutting  such  road
or portion thereof.
d. The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication
of  a  notice  in  at  least one newspaper of general circulation in the
town, and post such notice on the town website if available,  specifying

the  time  when  and  the  place where such hearing will be held, and in
general terms describing the proposed resolution. Such notice  shall  be
published  once  at  least five days prior to the day specified for such
hearing.
2.  A road or road segment located within a designated town, which has
been designated minimum maintenance, shall be  maintained  at  the  same
level  as other roads within the town but shall not require snow and ice
removal and maintenance. Such level of maintenance  shall  not  restrict
access  to  farmland  by  a  farm  operation  eligible  for agricultural
assessment pursuant to article twenty-five-AA  of  the  agriculture  and
markets  law. Minimum maintenance roads shall continue to be part of the
town highway system.
3. a. Any person or persons owning or occupying real property abutting
a  road  or  portion  thereof  which  has  been  designated  a   minimum
maintenance  road  may  petition  the town having jurisdiction over such
road or portion thereof to discontinue the designation of such road as a
minimum maintenance road. Such petition shall be filed with the clerk of
the town  having  jurisdiction  over  such  road.  Such  petition  shall
identify  the  road  or  portion thereof to be discontinued as a minimum
maintenance road and set forth the reasons for  such  discontinuance  or
modification.    The town board having jurisdiction over such road shall
hold a public hearing upon such petition within thirty  days  after  its
receipt.  The  town  clerk  shall  give  notice  of  such hearing by the
publication of a notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation
in the town, and post such notice on  the  town  website  if  available,
specifying  the time when and the place where such hearing will be held,
and in general terms describing the  proposed  resolution.  Such  notice
shall  be  published  once at least five days prior to the day specified
for such hearing.
b. In the event the town board, after such public hearing,  determines
that  such  designation shall continue unchanged, no additional petition
may be submitted by a person or persons pursuant to this  section  until
the  lapse of at least twenty-four months from the date of the filing of
the previous petition filed by such person or persons.
c. The town board having jurisdiction over a minimum maintenance  road
may  adopt  a  local  law  discontinuing  such  minimum maintenance road
designation in the event it determines such discontinuance to be in  the
public interest.
4.  When  used  in this section, unless otherwise expressly stated, or
unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires,  the  following
terms shall have the following meanings:
a.  "Low-volume  road"  shall  mean  a town highway or portion thereof
located in a designated town, when such highway  has  an  average  daily
traffic  count  of  less  than four hundred motor vehicles per day. Such
term shall not apply to any highway or road or portion thereof which has
previously been abandoned pursuant to subdivision  one  of  section  two
hundred  five  of  this  article  because it shall not have been used or
traveled as a highway for six years.
b. "Agricultural land access road" shall mean a low-volume  road  that
provides  access  to  farm  land.  Traffic  volumes  are  low  and  vary
seasonally.
c. "Farm access road" shall  mean  a  low-volume  road  that  provides
principal  motor  vehicle access for the transport of goods and services
necessary for effective support of a farm's daily operations to and from
the primary location or center of such  operations.  Traffic  volume  is
generally  low,  significantly less than four hundred motor vehicles per
day, and may include occasional heavy vehicles  and  farm  equipment  as
well as other motor vehicles.
d.  "Recreation  land  access  road" shall mean a low-volume road that
provides access to recreational land including seasonal dwellings, parks
and recreational lands. Volumes can vary with  the  type  of  recreation
facility, activity and season of the year.
e.  "Minimum maintenance road" shall mean a low-volume agricultural or
recreational access road  or  portion  thereof  with  an  average  daily
traffic  count  of  less than fifty motor vehicles per day designated by
the designated town as minimum maintenance  pursuant  to  this  section,
except  for  a  farm  access  road or a road which provides access to an
individual year-round residence  at  the  time  it  is  proposed  to  be
designated minimum maintenance.
f.  "Motor  vehicle"  shall mean a motor vehicle as defined by section
one hundred twenty-five of the vehicle and traffic law.
g. "Designated town"  shall  mean  the  town  of  Lorraine,  Jefferson
county.
5. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting, diminishing
or  otherwise  affecting  the  powers of any municipality other than the
designated town.
* NB Repealed December 8, 2031