The Town Board hereby declares that in the interest of public safety and convenience and in order to promote a sound residential environment, both individual and common driveways must be designed, constructed and maintained to afford suitable access to any residential dwelling or other habitable structure from a public or private street or highway in accordance with § 280 of the Town Law and in a manner that both avoids adverse impact upon the intersecting public or private street or roadway and provides reasonable access to such residential dwelling or other habitable structure throughout all seasons of the year for both routine and emergency purposes.
For purposes of this chapter, each of the below terms shall have the meaning set forth herein:
COMMON DRIVEWAY
A driveway providing access from a public or private street or roadway to either a parking area or two or more lots, parcels or uses.
DRIVEWAY
A private vehicular way providing access from a public or private street or roadway and not providing a route for through traffic.
INDIVIDUAL DRIVEWAY
A driveway providing access from a public or private street or roadway to one lot and serving not more than two dwelling units.
A. 
No driveway intended for access to a residential dwelling or other habitable structure shall be constructed prior to application for and issuance of a driveway construction permit by the Town Code Enforcement Officer.
B. 
In order to secure the required driveway construction permit the applicant shall demonstrate by submission of a driveway construction design plan(s) and other necessary documentation conformance with the driveway design and construction criteria set forth in below.
Prior to issuance of any permit for new construction, application shall be made for a driveway permit. In the review of the application for driveway construction permit the Code Enforcement Officer may, at their discretion, refer the driveway construction design plan(s) to the Engineer for the Town and, in the case of a driveway intersecting an existing or proposed Town street or highway, the Town Superintendent of Highways for review and design approval. A driveway permit fee as set forth in the schedule of fees of the Town of Mamakating shall accompany the application.
Upon issuance of the driveway construction permit, the Code Enforcement Officer shall monitor the progress of the work and call when timely for field inspection of the work by the Engineer for the Town and, in the case of a driveway intersecting an existing or proposed Town street or roadway, the Town Superintendent of Highways.
A. 
No building permit for a residential dwelling or other habitable structure may be issued by the Code Enforcement Officer until the required driveway construction permit has been issued and the portion of the driveway is installed, up to and including the required base or foundation course, and found satisfactory upon field inspection by the Engineer for the Town with respect to alignment, grade, principal storm drainage and one of the following additional determinations made by Code Enforcement Officer:
(1) 
The driveway connects directly to an existing improved and maintained public or private roadway.
(2) 
The driveway connects directly to a proposed public or private roadway which is set forth on an approved subdivision plat, subject of a performance guarantee and either offer of cession to the Town or duly filed homeowner's agreement, and construction complete to the satisfaction of the Engineer for the Town with respect to alignment, grade, principal storm drainage and installation, up to and including both the required roadway base and asphalt binder course.
B. 
No certificate of occupancy for the residential dwelling or other habitable structure may be subsequently issued by the Code Enforcement Officer until the driveway installation, including related stormwater management practices, has been approved upon field inspection by the Engineer for the Town and, as may be applicable, the Town Superintendent of Highways.
All driveways providing access to a residential dwelling or other habitable structure shall connect directly to either an existing improved public or private roadway or a proposed public or private roadway and shall further conform in design and construction and be maintained for the life of the dwelling or other habitable structure with the overall design criteria depicted on Figures 9 and 9A in Article II, Road Specifications, of the Town of Mamakating,[1] and with the below standards and requirements:
A. 
Driveway access to any dwelling or habitable structure shall be provided over an improved cartway not less than 10 feet (18 feet for common driveways) in width, crowned or with appropriate cross slope and centered within a graded and stabilized area not less than 20 feet (28 feet for common driveways) in width; such cartway and stabilized area shall, at a minimum, include a suitably prepared and graded horizontal cross section and constructed as detailed on Figures 9 and 9A in Article II, Road Specifications, of the Town of Mamakating. The stabilized area shall be maintained throughout the entire length of the driveway free of obstructions such as trees, accessory buildings, light standards, fences or walls.
B. 
Except in the case of a common driveway, which by design must be located at least in part within 12 feet of a property line, driveway access to any dwelling or other habitable structure and its associated parking area shall be separated by a distance of not less than 12 feet from any property line.
C. 
All driveways shall be designed and constructed with a minimum grade of 1.5% and a maximum grade of 4% within 50 feet of the intersecting street or roadway pavement to avoid conditions where either inadequate landing area is present and/or visibility is limited when exiting a driveway downgrade of the intersected street or roadway.
D. 
All driveways shall be designed and constructed to include landing area of not less than 1.5% or greater than 4% grade adjacent to, or reasonably near, the dwelling or other habitable structure where a delivery or emergency vehicle might park or turn around.
E. 
The minimum allowable driveway radius shall be 40 feet as measured along the center line. Driveway grade shall not exceed 6% within 25 feet of any radius less than 50 feet as measured along the center line.
F. 
Driveway grade between the street or roadway providing access to any dwelling or other habitable structure and such dwelling or habitable structure shall otherwise not exceed 14% at any location throughout the entire length of the driveway.
G. 
All driveways shall be designed, constructed and maintained in a manner that no stormwater runoff from the driveway is discharged onto an intersected public street or roadway unless there is a system specifically designed, installed and maintained to capture this runoff along a curb or gutter line; in no instance shall runoff be permitted to discharge into the travel lane or to otherwise create a condition that would likely result in icing on the intersected public street or roadway.
H. 
All driveways shall comply with the below minimum-sight-distance standards as measured 10 feet from the edge of the cartway of the intersected public street or roadway and in consideration of the posted speed limit on such street or roadway except where Sullivan County Department of Public Works or NYSDOT are the agency of jurisdiction and their current standards shall apply:
(1) 
For right- and left-turn movement sight distances:
Speed Limit
(mph)
Minimum Sight Distance
(feet)
30
335
35
390
40
445
45
500
50
555
55
610
(2) 
For stopping sight distance:
Speed Limit
(mph)
Minimum Sight Distance
(feet)
30
200
35
250
40
305
45
360
50
425
55
495
(3) 
For turning sight distance:
Speed Limit
(mph)
Minimum Sight Distance
(feet)
30
245
35
285
40
325
45
365
50
405
55
445
(4) 
The distances in Subsection H(1), (2) and (3) above shall be adjusted based upon road grade as follows, adding for downhill approach and subtracting for uphill approach:
Road Grade
Adjustment
0% to 3%
No adjustment
4% to 6%
10% adjustment
7% to 9%
20% adjustment
10% and greater
30% adjustment
I. 
Any driveway exceeding 500 feet in length shall include suitable improved turnouts or pass-by areas, as depicted in Figure 9B[2] in Article II, Road Specifications, of the Town of Mamakating, at intervals and locations recommended on a site-specific basis by the Engineer for the Town upon referral of the engineering plans and other documentation by the Town Planning Board or Code Enforcement Officer, as pertinent to the specific circumstance.
[2]
Editor's Note: Figure 9B is included as an attachment to this chapter.
J. 
Any driveway, any portion of which is in excess of 8% in grade, shall be constructed with an area suitable for the parking of two cars during inclement weather, such area to be located prior to the start of such grade and within neither the required cartway or associated stabilized area nor a public street or roadway right-of-way.
K. 
Any driveway, any portion of which is in excess of 10% in grade, shall include suitable improved turnouts or pass-by areas at locations recommended on a site-specific basis by the Engineer for the Town upon referral of the design plans and/or other documentation whether by the Town Planning Board as part of a subdivision plat review and approval process or at the time of application for driveway construction permit by the Code Enforcement Officer, as pertinent to the specific circumstance.
L. 
All driveways shall include a paved apron extending for a distance of not less than 10 feet from an intersecting public street or roadway. In situations where a roadside swale exists, the paved apron shall extend to the ditch line.
M. 
Any driveway that exceeds 8% in grade at any point along its entire length shall be paved the entire distance from the intersecting public or private street or roadway to the dwelling, including the landing areas at the street and at the dwelling.
N. 
Design plans prepared by a licensed professional engineer and deemed satisfactory by the Engineer for the Town shall be required for any driveway any portion of which is in excess of 8% grade, including therewith a stormwater management plan and consideration of culverts, guide rails, or other improvements that may be initially proposed or required upon review of the design plans by the Engineer for the Town.
O. 
Design plans deemed satisfactory by the Engineer for the Town shall be required for that portion of any driveway crossing a designated wetland, a designated 100-year floodplain or a stream or other watercourse, including consideration of any bridge or similar structure, e.g., a box or arch culvert, proposed for installation as part of the driveway construction. In particular, any bridge or culvert crossing shall have an unobstructed width of not less than 12 feet and be designed to support a minimum load of 65,000 pounds.
P. 
To the extent such may be more stringent than the above design criteria, the driveway design shall further incorporate any requirements or conditions imposed by either the New York State Department of Transportation, the Sullivan County Department of Public Works, or the Town of Mamakating Superintendent of Highways, in review and approval of the pertinent agency of jurisdiction highway work permit application, including but not limited to the sufficiency of stormwater and the suitability of sight distance.
Q. 
Walls, fences, driveway entrance gates and pillars, signs, and similar appurtenant features shall be set back adequate distance from both the public or private right-of-way and the residential or other driveway to permit turning movements for ingress and egress by fire protective and other emergency vehicles. No such appurtenances shall be constructed and maintained within any area proposed for public highways or within any drainage, snow storage or other utility easement area.
R. 
To the extent practicable, an individual parcel shall be served by only one driveway intersecting at a single location either the adjoining public street or roadway or an adjoining private street or roadway set forth on an approved subdivision plat. In the event, however, two intersections of an individual driveway or more than one driveway are authorized by the Planning Board during either the subdivision plat or site plan review approval process and approved by the agency of jurisdiction, i.e., NYSDOT, Sullivan County DPW or Town of Mamakating Superintendent of Highways in the case of a public street or roadway, each of the intersections and each of the driveways shall comply fully with the design and construction criteria set forth in above Subsections A through Q.
[1]
Editor's Note: Figures 9 and 9A are included as attachments to this chapter.