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Town of Highland, NY
Sullivan County
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Code
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[Adopted 7-12-2005 by L.L. No. 4-2005[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This article was adopted as Ch. 192, §§ 192-86 through 192-89, but was renumbered to fit into the organizational structure of the Code.
All buildings, structures and properties shall be provided with unobstructed access for fire-fighting and emergency service(s) personnel, apparatus and equipment with appropriately sized access roads, driveways or fire lanes so that all buildings on the premises are accessible to the Fire Department and/or all other emergency service(s) apparatus and/or personnel.
A. 
Access roads, driveways and fire lanes shall be adequately maintained and kept free and clear of any and all obstructions such as snow, ice, trees, or anything else that might interfere with clear and continuous access being maintained.
B. 
The designation, dimensions and maintenance of access roads, driveways and fire lanes on private properties shall be established by this chapter and Chapter 5 of the 2010 Fire Code of New York State, whichever is more strict.
[Amended 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
C. 
It shall be a violation of this section to park or allow to be parked and/or stored temporarily or permanently any type of motor vehicle or other vehicle on or in any access road, driveway or fire lane that would prohibit access of emergency apparatus and equipment within 150 feet of any building or structure.
D. 
Driveways for detached one- and two-family dwellings shall meet or exceed the following standards:
[Added 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
(1) 
The minimum vertical clearance above the surface of the driveway to overhanging branches, wires and other obstruction is 13 feet six inches over the entire horizontal clearance width.
(2) 
Table of minimum horizontal clearances for driveways:
Radius of Driveway Curve at Center Line
(feet)
Horizontal Clearance from Center Line
(feet)
Straight
7
100+
8
75+
9
50+
10
25+
11
25-
12
(3) 
The minimum required horizontal clearance from the shorter radius curve shall be tapered for 20 feet from the beginning or end of the shorter radius curve, along with the longer radius curve to meet its minimum required horizontal clearance.
(4) 
The minimum required horizontal clearance area shall be kept free of obstructions, including trees, tree branches, posts, poles, rocks, boulders, fences, nontraversable ditches and any other objects that would be an obstruction to an emergency vehicle.
(5) 
The minimum base and surface material width of the driveway shall be 12 feet.
(6) 
The maximum driveway grade is 10%, unless it is proven that the driveway can not be built with a maximum grade of 10%, in which case, a maximum grade of 15% may be approved prior to construction.
(7) 
Any culvert or bridge over a stream or brook shall be designed by an engineer to H20 of HS20 loading requirements and inspected by an engineer no less frequently than 10 years after construction and every five years thereafter, and maintained and/or repaired according to the engineer's recommendations, with a copy of the engineer's reccommendations sent to the Code Enforcement Officer for filing.
(8) 
When driveways are in excess of 500 feet in length, and do not exit to another emergency service access road or public road, a turnaround shall be provided suitable for fire apparatus. (See 2010 Fire Code of New York State, Appendix D).
(9) 
Driveways in excess of 500 feet in length and width, with a base and surface width less than 20 feet, shall be provided with turnouts along the driveway that are a minimum of 20 feet in width for a length of 50 feet. The turnouts shall be placed at intervals not to exceed 500 feet along the driveway.
(10) 
Driveways shall be constructed to support fire apparatus in all weather conditions.
(11) 
The design of driveways, including turning radius and grade shall facilitate passage of fire apparatus and be approved by the Code Enforcement Officer prior to construction.
(12) 
Driveways and portions thereof that serve more than four buildings shall meet the design requirements of § 503 of Chapter 5 of the 2010 Fire Code of New York State (Fire Apparatus Access Roads).
E. 
All subdivision roads and all private roads with official 911 names shall be emergency service and fire apparatus access roads and shall be built and maintained in accordance with the Town Code and Chapter 5 of the 2010 Fire Code of New York State.
[Added 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
F. 
Fire lanes serving large or commercial buildings, where the fire lane is not normally used by vehicles other than emergency vehicles, shall be built and maintained to the same standard as emergency service and fire apparatus access roads.
[Added 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
G. 
No certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance shall be issued by the Code Enforcement Officer until he or she is satisfied that the requirements of this Article III have been met. If necessary, the Town Engineer shall be called to determine if the requirements have been met, with the fee for his or her services billed to the land owner, and paid prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy or compliance.
[Added 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
H. 
No certificate of occupancy or compliance shall be issued unless the reflective identification number sign is properly installed at the driveway entrance (see Chapter 36) and, in the case of a driveway off a private road, the required private road sign is also in place (see Chapter 38).
[Added 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
No emergency service providers or other authorized individuals or agencies shall be held liable for obstructed access of any form in responding to emergency calls, and they shall be held harmless by the subdivider, developer, homeowners' association and/or individual private homeowner.
The Code Enforcement Officer, constables and any police agency are hereby empowered and authorized to exercise such powers as may be necessary or convenient to carry out and effectuate the purposes and provisions in this article.
A. 
Any person committing an offense against any provision of this article shall, upon conviction thereof, be punishable by the imposition of a fine in an amount to be fixed by the court, not exceeding $1,000 or up to 15 days in jail, or both such fine and jail sentence. In addition to the penalties set forth above, or in lieu of same, the court may impose a fine, to be payable to the Town, equal to the cost or removal of the litter, refuse or rubbish deposited by the violator, or tree branches, trees, shrubs, fences and other obstructions placed, erected, planted or allowed to grow or allowed to remain by the violator. Each and every day a violation of this article continues shall constitute a separate violation and the penalties prescribed above shall be applicable to each such separate offense, except that no further penalty shall be imposed for the period during which any appeal from a conviction of such offense is pending.
[Amended 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]
B. 
In addition to the above-provided penalties and punishment, the Town Board may also maintain an action or proceeding in the name of the Town in a court of competent jurisdiction to compel compliance with or to restrain by injunction the violation of this article.
C. 
If an emergency vehicle is damaged by non-compliance with this chapter while responding to an emergency call, the landowner shall be responsible for reimbursing the emergency service for the cost of repairing the emergency service vehicle.
[Added 4-12-2011 by L.L. No. 5-2011]