[Added 8-4-2015 by L.L. No. 13-2015]
A. 
Since the founding of the Town of Riverhead in 1792, various highways have been created and constructed. Many of the original highways began as dirt paths over which the public traversed. In the 1800s, the New York State Legislature established a provision in the Highway Law, which has been carried forward and is now contained in § 189, Highways by use, of the New York State Highway Law.
B. 
The Legislature has determined that any highway that has been utilized by the public for a period of 10 years or more and over which the local authority has exercised some degree of control in the form of maintenance shall be deemed a highway by use under the provisions of § 189 of the Highway Law. Once determined to be a § 189 highway, the right of the public to traverse the area is made permanent. The local municipality acquires a surface easement for the length and width of the existing highway, which has been utilized in the manner set forth above.
C. 
Within the past 10 years, the Town Board of the Town of Riverhead has determined by resolution certain highways to be Town highways. Approximately 10 years ago, the Town Board commissioned a staff study of all the remaining highways in the Town that were not formally dedicated Town highways, not previously determined to be § 189 highways, but upon which the Town performed any maintenance services. The staff presented their study to the Town Board, and in December 2004, 74 roads were made part of the Town highway system.
D. 
The Town Board has been provided information that additional roads within the Town of Riverhead have received Town maintenance services consisting of plowing snow and sanding, but these roads have not yet been determined to be § 189 highways. The staff also determined that these 41 highways met the criteria to be declared a § 189 highway under this chapter.
E. 
It is with the purpose in mind of clarifying the rights, obligations and duties of all owners of property and of the Town with respect to highways which have been acquired by use that the Town Board enacts this article.
In accordance with the authority vested in the Town Board by the State Legislature, the Town Board shall, by resolution, determine those highways which meet the criteria for a § 189 highway. These highways shall have been used by the public for a period of 10 years or longer, and the Town shall have performed certain maintenance thereof in the form of patching or plowing or sanding during a period of at least 10 years.
On any highway determined to be a § 189 highway, the public shall have the right to traverse said highway as if it were constructed and laid out as a dedicated public highway. The rights of access shall include the right to drive an automobile or bike on it, traverse it on foot and conduct any other lawful activity on the highway as if it were a fully dedicated Town highway. The Town shall have been deemed to have acquired a surface easement for said highway and appurtenances for the width and the length of the highway as determined by the Town Board upon the adoption of a resolution declaring said highway to be a § 189 highway.
Once a highway has been determined to be a § 189 highway, the Town shall continue to keep the existing traveled way for the width and the length, as determined by the Town over which a surface easement has been acquired, in a condition for the public to be able to access and traverse said highway and for emergency service access. Nothing herein shall obligate the Town to expend any funds to widen the road or to acquire any subsurface easements to allow any drainage facilities to be installed or replaced. If determined by the Town Board to be necessary, said improvements shall be performed in accordance with the provisions of law. Nothing herein shall require the Town to pave or otherwise improve the existing surface of the § 189 highway to any level beyond keeping it open in order to allow safe passage and emergency service access.
The Town Board shall, following the effective date of this article, adopt a resolution formally certifying all § 189 highways within the Town of Riverhead. A list shall contain an inventory of all highways previously determined to be § 189 highways, updating their names and dimensions thereon, and shall also contain the additional highways which have been determined by the study commissioned by the Town Board to be § 189 highways but which have not yet been formally declared.
In accordance with the provisions of the State Constitution and state laws, it is hereby declared to be illegal within the Town of Riverhead for any municipal official to provide services to a private road, lane or driveway, except in times of a state of emergency duly declared by the appropriate executive official for the needs of the public's health, welfare and safety. It is hereby declared to be the intent of this article that no further roads be accepted as § 189 highways within the Town of Riverhead except as provided for herein.