As used in this article, the following words and phrases shall
have the meanings ascribed to them in this section:
PRIVATE ROAD (STREET)
Any road, street, drive, or right-of-way for motor vehicles
which is not accepted as a Town street by the Town but which serves
more than one property owner and which is the access by which police,
fire and other public services are delivered to said property owners.
PROPERTY OWNER
The legal title holder of any lot, parcel of land, building,
condominium unit, or other structure to which the delivery of public
services may be required.
STREET SIGN
The sign approved by the Board of Selectmen for installation
on private roads or streets.
The Board of Selectmen is hereby authorized to name all private
roads in the Town of Suffield except such roads as are being designed
as future public streets under the jurisdiction of the Suffield Planning
and Zoning Commission.
The Board of Selectmen shall conduct a study and inventory of
the names of all private and public roads in the Town and maintain
a list of all names so as to avoid duplication and confusion with
other private or public roads.
The owner(s) of any private road or any person owning property
along any private road may petition the Board of Selectmen to name
said private road. Such petition shall contain the names and addresses
of all property owners served by said road and may contain a proposed
name.
Upon receipt of any such petition, the Board of Selectmen shall
conduct a public hearing on said petition giving notice by publication
in a newspaper having a substantial circulation in the Town and may
also provide additional notice to the property owners identified on
the petition or otherwise known to the Selectmen as owning property
along said road. No public hearing may be conducted sooner than 10
days after publication of notice.
Within a reasonable time after said public hearing, the Board
of Selectmen shall name said private road and designate the location
for the installation of one or more street signs.
Street signs shall be located by the Board of Selectmen within
the public right-of-way where the private road intersects the public
road. Where a private road intersects another private road, the new
sign shall be located as near as possible to the location of any previously
existing sign consistent with public health and safety.
Absent a petition under §
265-11 herein, where the Board of Selectmen determines that the name of an existing private road or the lack of name or the signage is or is likely to impair the delivery of public services, the Board of Selectmen may initiate a naming or renaming of the road by calling a public hearing on the naming of said road and providing notice by publication aforesaid at least 10 days before the date of the public hearing. As additional notice, not as a legal requirement but as a courtesy, the Selectmen may send written notice to property owners along said road and who are served by said road.
After a street has been so named or renamed, the Board of Selectmen
or its designee may assign house numbers to the properties, residential
or commercial, along said private road and so notify the property
owners affected.
In order to carry out the foregoing duties the Board of Selectmen
shall have the power to adopt regulations which shall be consistent
with all federal and state laws and Town Code and Charter provisions.
To assist it in carrying out its responsibilities under this
article, the Board of Selectmen may create and submit a budget request
for inclusion in the annual Town budget.