Town of Kent, NY Article II Driveway Specifications

§ 57-20 Purpose; compliance required.

It is the purpose of these specifications to establish minimum acceptable standards of driveway construction to be built in connection with the development or subdivision of land in the Town of Kent, including but not limited to width, design, drainage, construction of base and pavement, curbs and sidewalks, monuments and signs. The specifications and standards set forth herein shall apply to all driveways to be constructed in the Town of Kent.

§ 57-21 Permit required; application; procedure.

A. No driveway having an intersection or junction with a Town road shall be constructed unless and until a permit therefor shall have been duly issued by the Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Kent as herein provided.

B. Applications for such permit shall be made to the Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Kent upon such forms as shall be designated and provided by him. Each such application shall be in triplicate and shall contain the following information:

(1) The name and signature of the owner of the property.

(2) The name of the contractor or builder who will construct the driveway.

(3) The name and location of the Town road that the proposed driveway will join or intersect, and whether such road is paved; and, if paved, if breaking of the pavement will be required.

(4) The width and length of the driveway.

(5) The dates of commencement and expected completion of the work.

C. Each such application shall be accompanied by a true sketch of the proposed driveway, drawn to scale, showing both plan and profile views, with sufficient detail of the adjacent area so that the Superintendent can make a preliminary study before personally investigating the site. The Superintendent may, in proper cases, require further or different information than that above set forth.

D. A fee as set by the Town Board shall accompany such application.

§ 57-22 Processing of application; approval or disapproval.

A. Upon the filing of the application with the sketch, which shall be deemed a part of the application, and after study of the same and a personal examination of the proposed construction, the Superintendent may approve or disapprove the application. In approving or disapproving any application, the Superintendent shall consider all proposals concerning drainage, stormwater, grades, culverts, fill, facing and any other pertinent matters which would in any manner affect the Town road by the construction of the driveway proposed in the permit application.

B. If such application is disapproved, the Superintendent shall endorse on the application his reasons therefor, and the applicant shall have an opportunity to comply with the objections and to resubmit the application.

C. If the application is approved, such approval shall be endorsed upon each copy of the application, one to be returned to the applicant, one to be retained by the Superintendent and the third to be filed with the Building Inspector of the Town of Kent. A copy with approval endorsed shall constitute the driveway permit.

D. Applications shall be filed by the office of the Superintendent, and all such applications, whether approved or disapproved, shall be deemed public records.

§ 57-23 Driveway permit prerequisite to issuance of building permit.

In all cases where a driveway is proposed on premises for which a building permit is necessary, no such building permit shall be issued by the Building Inspector or any other department or agency of the Town of Kent until a driveway permit has been duly issued as above provided and an as-built survey has been provided to the Town in accordance with § 57-26A(5)(c).

§ 57-24 Bond or surety.

[Amended 9-26-2017 by L.L. No. 3-2017]

No bond or surety shall be required of any applicant in connection with a driveway permit unless such work will require the breaking of pavement on a Town road or unless culvert work or other work, such as erosion control work, is required for satisfactory construction. In such case, the Highway Superintendent shall require sufficient surety, in the form of a cash bond, surety bond, or letter of credit, to ensure the restoration of the pavement or completion of the work, as the case may be.

§ 57-25 Approval of driveway construction prior to issuance of certificate of occupancy.

No certificate of occupancy shall be issued by the Building Inspector or any department or agency of the Town of Kent until final approval of the driveway construction has been duly given by the Highway Superintendent, which approval shall be endorsed on all three copies of the driveway permit upon completion of the driveway as preliminarily approved by the Superintendent.

§ 57-26 Driveway access.

A. The following regulations shall apply to development of private and common driveways in the Town of Kent. The following standards are deemed to be the minimum necessary to assure the orderly development of driveways in the Town to provide for safe all-weather access for passenger, emergency and general-use vehicles. In areas where topography is such as to make it impractical to conform to the following specifications on driveway grades, the Planning Board may, upon the written recommendation of the Planning Board Engineer, set aside these specifications and have the Planning Board Engineer establish acceptable grade percentages for the area under development.

(1) The driveway for any lot shall provide vehicular access to within 150 feet of the exterior wall of each habitable structure.

(2) For lots legally in existence as of the date of adoption of this chapter, for which no driveway permit has been issued, driveways proposed to serve three or fewer single-family residential lots shall meet the following standards:

(a) Finished grades for all parts of any proposed driveway shall not exceed 10% and shall not be less than 1 1/2% nor exceed 5% within 30 feet of the intersection of the driveway with the Town road or private road and shall be paved for a distance of 30 feet from said intersection. The driveway shall slope down and away from the Town road or private road in this thirty-foot-long segment, except in the case of a driveway with a culvert (Figures 15 and 25[1]). The slope shall not exceed 3% within 30 feet of a garage or parking pad. The Planning Board may grant a waiver for a driveway slope of up to 15% upon a showing by the applicant of practical difficulty in meeting these standards. The Board shall seek the input of the Town Highway Superintendent and Fire Department in such cases.

[1] Editor's Note: Figures 15 and 25 are included at the end of this chapter.

(b) Any section of a proposed driveway that exceeds 10% finished grade shall be paved, except that driveways intersecting unpaved roads of any type shall not be paved within 30 feet of the intersection with the road as shown in Figure 25. The following apron shall be installed:

[1] Filter cloth shall be placed over the eight-inch gravel base.

[2] A six-inch layer of one-inch to four-inch stone shall be placed over the filter cloth.

[3] The dimensions of this apron shall be the width of the driveway (12 feet minimum) plus an additional five feet on each side of the driveway.

[4] The edges of this apron shall be flush with the edges of the driveway and the road.

(3) For lots created after the date of adoption of this chapter, driveways proposed to serve three or fewer single-family residential lots shall meet the following standards:

(a) Finished grades for the first 200 feet of any proposed driveway shall not exceed 10% and shall not be less than 1 1/2% nor exceed 5% within 30 feet of the intersection of the driveway with the Town road or private road and shall be paved for a distance of 30 feet from said intersection. The driveway shall slope down and away from the Town road or private road in this thirty-foot-long segment, except in the case of a driveway with a culvert (Figures 15 and 25[2]). The slope shall not exceed 3% within 30 feet of a garage or parking pad. Finished grades for the remainder of the driveway shall not exceed 10%, except that the Planning Board may grant a waiver for a driveway slope of up to 15% upon a showing by the applicant of practical difficulty in meeting these standards. The Board shall seek the input of the Town Highway Superintendent and Fire Department in such cases.

[2] Editor's Note: Figures 15 and 25 are included at the end of this chapter.

(b) Any section of a proposed driveway that exceeds 10% finished grade shall be paved, except that driveways intersecting unpaved roads of any type shall not be paved within 30 feet of the intersection with the road as shown in Figure 25. The following apron shall be installed:

[1] Filter cloth shall be placed over the eight-inch gravel base.

[2] A six-inch layer of one-inch to four-inch stone shall be placed over the filter cloth.

[3] The dimensions of this apron shall be the width of the driveway (12 feet minimum) plus an additional five feet on each side of the driveway.

[4] The edges of this apron shall be flush with the edges of the driveway and the road.

(4) For all driveways:

(a) See Figure 25 for driveway intersections with a Town road.[3]

[3] Editor's Note: Figure 25 is included at the end of this chapter.

(b) The minimum driveway width shall not be less than 16 feet with a travel-way width of not less than 12 feet and a shoulder width of not less than two feet on each side. For driveways in excess of 500 feet, the Planning Board shall require pull-offs to provide safe passage for users of the driveway and shall require designation of areas along the driveway for snow storage. Passing turnouts shall be placed at not more than five-hundred-foot intervals along the length of the driveway. The passing turnouts shall have an additional four feet of shoulder width. The minimum dimension of a turnout shall be 20 feet in width and 50 feet in length.

(c) Shoulders shall be topsoiled, seeded with an appropriate grass or grass blend, and mulched.

(d) All roots and stumps shall be grubbed, excavated and removed from the travel way and shoulders.

(e) All unsuitable and unstable materials shall be completely excavated and removed, and all rocks or boulders larger than six inches across shall be excavated to at least eight inches below finished grade.

(f) The foundation course of the driveway shall be a minimum of eight inches of clean, run-of-bank gravel.

(g) The final course of the driveway shall be a minimum of four inches of Item 4 or processed gravel. Pavement, where required, shall be a minimum of three inches compacted thickness.

(h) The paved and unpaved travel way, passing turnouts, shoulders and flow line of drainage ditches and swales shall be maintained in satisfactory condition to assure safe and continuous year-round access for all vehicles.

(i) Trees and shrubs shall be trimmed and maintained so as not to hang into or obstruct the travel way, passing turnouts and shoulders. Overhead branches shall be trimmed and maintained to a height of not less than 13 feet six inches.

(j) Common driveways. Private multiple-use driveways shall be classified as common driveways and shall be constructed in accordance with the standards as specified herein. All lots and properties served by a common driveway shall have easements and cross-easements for ingress and egress and a maintenance agreement, signed and recorded in the Putnam County Clerk's office, defining the rights and responsibilities of the lot and property owners and approved by the Planning Board, prohibiting parking on the common driveway easement and incorporating other standards acceptable to the Planning Board, its attorneys and the Fire Department. A maximum of three single-family residential lots can be served by a common driveway.

(5) Procedure:

(a) A development plan for the driveway, together with driveway profiles and other information as may be required by the Town Building Inspector or Town Highway Superintendent to show compliance with this chapter, shall accompany an application for a steep slope and erosion control permit, and/or a highway work permit, prior to an application for a building permit being made.

(b) The development plan shall use as a base map an accurate boundary and topographic survey of the property depicting all existing improvements and grades prepared by a New York State licensed land surveyor. The plan shall depict all proposed improvements and shall be prepared by one of the following professionals licensed by the State of New York: a professional engineer, a landscape architect, or an architect. The development plan and profiles shall show conformity of the proposed driveway construction with these standards unless otherwise waived by the Planning Board.

(c) Upon completion of grading and placement of subbase material, and prior to final paving, the applicant's New York State licensed land surveyor shall provide to the Town an as-built survey depicting the actual grades and dimensions to which the driveway has been constructed. Such as-built survey shall accompany the application for issuance of a building permit for construction of on-site improvements. Upon completion of construction, the applicant's professional engineer shall certify to the Town that the driveway has been constructed in accordance with the approved plans and with these specifications.

B. Driveway access from private roads. Access from private roads shall be deemed acceptable only if such roads are designed and improved in accordance with these regulations.