[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Poestenkill as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-21-2015 by L.L. No. 1-2015]
This article is titled "A local law relating to preservation and protection of the roads of the Town of Poestenkill and to the mitigation of damage due to heavy and/or high volume truck traffic." This article may be cited as the "Town of Poestenkill Road Preservation Law."
The purpose of this article is to protect and maintain the health, safety and general welfare of Town residents and to preserve the local transportation infrastructure by expressly delegating to the Town Highway Superintendent ("Highway Superintendent") the authority to limit, condition, qualify or prohibit certain uses of the Town highway system. More specifically, this article is intended to minimize and mitigate damage to Town roads and bridges above and beyond ordinary wear and tear, resulting from truck traffic due to high impact and/or high frequency commercial and industrial activities.
The Town Board of the Town of Poestenkill enacts this article under the authority granted by § 10 of the New York State Municipal Home Rule Law, the New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660, and the New York State Town Law § 130, Subdivision 7.
This article shall apply to all Town roads and bridges paved or unpaved, road shoulders, bridges, guardrails, driveways, easements, rights-of-way, culverts, sluice or drainage pipes, ditches, sidewalks, signs, or any utilities or improvements therein, thereon, or thereunder including seasonal and limited use roads designated by the Town of Poestenkill, open to travel by the public, and repaired and maintained by the Town of Poestenkill.
The Highway Superintendent is authorized to condition, restrict, qualify or prohibit in their entirety any and all uses of Town roads or the Town highway system which are, in his sole opinion, likely to result in an adverse impact thereon, above and beyond ordinary wear and tear.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
HIGH-FREQUENCY AND HIGH-IMPACT TRAFFIC
Any traffic over or use of Town roads which has been observed by the Highway Superintendent to have resulted in a significantly adverse impact upon Town roads or which is likely in the reasonable and sole opinion of the Highway Superintendent to result in such an impact upon Town roads due to frequency of use, axle weight of vehicles or equipment, condition of road due to temporary conditions of temperature, water saturation or the like, including specifically, but not necessarily, exclusively traffic or use generated by a commercial project or activity that generates more than 10 truck trips per twenty-four-hour period for more than three consecutive days, involving trucks that are registered for 26,001 pounds or greater, and/or truck traffic of one or more vehicles that are oversized and/or overweight requiring a permit to travel New York State roads and highways pursuant to New York State Vehicle and Traffic Law § 385.
PROPERTY
Includes any real property (including any improvements therein, thereon or there under) or personal property owned by or leased to the Town of Poestenkill.
REGULATED VEHICLE OR EQUIPMENT
Trucks, trailers, semitrailers, tractors and other equipment, both wheeled and tracked vehicles, whether self-propelled or towed, whether loaded or unloaded whose use and operation falls within the definitions in this article of either high-frequency or high-impact truck traffic.
ROAD
Means and includes any paved or unpaved, road, shoulder, road right-of-way, bridge, guardrail, concourse, driveway, easement, right-of-way, culvert, sluice or drainage pipe, ditch, dock, tunnel, sidewalk, sign or any utilities or improvements therein, thereon, or thereunder, including seasonal and limited use roads designated by the Town of Poestenkill, open to travel by the public and repaired and maintained by the Town of Poestenkill.
A. 
The Highway Superintendent shall have the authority to limit, regulate, condition and/or prohibit any high-frequency or high-impact truck traffic use on Town roads as defined above, including the authority to deny access to said roads.
B. 
This article shall apply to all high-frequency or high-impact truck traffic even if the origin site or locale and/or the destination is located outside the Town of Poestenkill so long as travel to and from the origin site and the destination is required over a Town road within the Town of Poestenkill.
C. 
When high-impact or high-frequency truck traffic is proposing to use Town roads to travel to more than one parcel or lot in the Town of Poestenkill, or to travel through the Town on Town roads to access parcels outside the Town of Poestenkill, approval shall be required for each parcel, and for each road being used within the Town.
A. 
All rubber-wheeled vehicles, equipment and machinery, whether self-propelled or towed, utilized in the production of or transportation of agricultural products (as defined in § 301 of Article 25-AA of the New York State Agriculture and Markets Law), school buses, law enforcement vehicles, firefighting and emergency rescue type vehicles, ambulances, military vehicles, equipment operated by the National Guard, and municipal owned and operated vehicles, are exempted from this article.
B. 
This article shall not be construed to apply to or prevent the regular delivery or pickup of merchandise or other items common for residences, local business construction sites, and farms from property along Town roads.
A. 
Upon the Highway Superintendent's receipt of advance notice provided by a prospective high-frequency or high-impact user of Town roads there is hereby delegated to the Highway Superintendent the authority to review, approve with modifications, approve, or deny any and all such proposed high-frequency or high-impact truck traffic use or any other vehicular use which might in his sole discretion result in damage to Town roads above and beyond ordinary wear and tear.
B. 
The Highway Superintendent shall have the right and authority to issue an order to stop all high-impact or high-frequency traffic or other use of Town highways which is in violation of this article or in violation of any conditions or restrictions placed on such use by the Highway Superintendent pursuant to this article.
C. 
Upon violation of any provisions of this article, the Highway Superintendent and/or the Town Code Enforcement Officer may suspend such use until violations are terminated and/or appropriately corrected by the user and then approved by the Highway Superintendent. A public hearing may be scheduled by the Town Board of the Town of Poestenkill, at which the user shall have the right to appear and be heard.
In the event any high-frequency or high-impact use not excluded or exempted by § 187-8 of this article or for which a waiver has been granted pursuant to § 187-12 of this article shall result in damage to a Town road or other Town property, the user responsible for such damage shall be liable to the Town for the reasonable costs of remediation and shall additionally be liable for payment of a fine not to exceed $250 for each day that said use continues after notice to suspend such use or stop the subject work has been given. Responsibility for such remediation costs and/or such fines shall be in addition to any other legal remedy available to the Town, including but not limited to the injunctive relief hereinafter provided for.
The Town is authorized to go to the New York State Supreme Court to seek an injunction against any user who defies a use prohibition, suspension or stop-work order.
A. 
Request for a waiver from the standards set forth in this article shall be made to the Town of Poestenkill Town Board in writing and shall contain the grounds on which the appellant relies for requesting the waiver, including all allegations or any facts on which the appellant will rely.
B. 
No waiver shall be granted, unless the Town of Poestenkill Town Board finds in its sole and absolute discretion and records in its minutes that:
(1) 
Granting the waiver would be in keeping with the intent and spirit of this article and other local laws and is in the best interests of the community, as set forth in the Town of Poestenkill Comprehensive Plan; and
(2) 
There are special circumstances involved in the particular use; and
(3) 
The requested waiver is the minimum necessary to accomplish the purpose.
If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this article or the application thereof to any person, individual, corporation, firm, partnership, entity or circumstance shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unconstitutional, such order or judgment shall not affect, impair, effect or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subdivision, section or part of this article or in its application to the person, individual, corporation, firm, partnership, entity or circumstance directly involved in the controversy in which such order or judgment shall be rendered, and the Town of Poestenkill hereby declares that it would have passed this article or the remainder thereof had such invalid application or invalid provision been known. If at any time there is a conflict between this article and any other Town of Poestenkill local law, this article shall control.