[Adopted as Ch. 29 of the 1976 Code]
[Amended 9-1-2009]
The City Council shall appoint a standing Committee on Highways, whose duty shall be to investigate all petitions which may be presented to the City Council for the laying out, relocating, altering, discontinuing or making specific repairs in any way, street or highway in the City and to report thereon to the City Council and to consider and report upon any other matters relative to highways, streets, bridges and other public places, which may be referred to said Committee by the City Council.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
The several streets in the City of Chicopee shall be called and known by the names by which they are now called until the same shall be altered by the City Council, and the City Council may at any time change or alter the name of any street, highway or public place and shall establish the names of all streets, highways and public places which may hereafter be laid out and accepted by the City or by any authority within the City, and no two streets or public places shall bear the same name.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
No private street or way shall be hereafter laid out, established or accepted or made a public street unless all parties interested in the premises waive damages, and then such street shall not be laid out of a width less than 50 feet, unless the same was actually constructed prior to January 1, 1907, or was in existence prior to the incorporation of the City unless, in the opinion of the City Council, it would be impracticable to have such street laid out of the full width of 50 feet.
No street or way constructed on private lands by private parties after January 1, 1907, shall be laid out, established or accepted as a public street or recommended for such acceptance unless the same has been previously constructed and completed in accordance with the following specifications:
A. 
A plan and profile showing the location and grade of every street or way which it is proposed to lay out and establish as a public street shall be filed with the City Clerk by the corporation, company or individual proposing to open said street at the time of laying out as a private way and before the same is graded or improved. Such plan and profile shall be drawn to such scale as may be required by the City Engineer and to his approval and shall show the location and grade of all connecting streets.
B. 
Every such street or way shall be constructed not less than 50 feet in width and shall have a roadway of not less than 25 feet in width and shall be of such cross section as the City Engineer may prescribe.
C. 
The entire area of every such street or way shall be cleared of stumps, rocks, roots and other unnecessary materials and of all trees not desirable for preservation.
D. 
All clay, loam and loamy materials shall be removed from the limits of the roadway and of the sidewalks to such depth as may be required by the City Engineer and shall be deposited outside of the limits of such street, and the space to the subgrade shall be filled with sand or other suitable materials, thoroughly compacted.
E. 
All work in excavation and embankment shall be brought accurately to a subgrade of not less than six inches for the roadway and four inches for the sidewalk below the finished grade. All side slopes in excavation and on adjoining land shall be at a ratio to be furnished by the City Engineer.
F. 
All embankments shall be made of loam, clean sand, gravel, cinders, furnace slag, rocks or broken stone only. Under no circumstances shall any perishable material be used for the making of such streets or street embankments.
G. 
The roadway shall be covered with binding gravel or other good hardening material as may be prescribed by the City Engineer and finished to the established grade to the satisfaction of the Mayor and Superintendent of Streets. The tree belt and side slopes adjoining the street line shall be covered with good loam at least eight inches in depth and so applied as to ensure against slipping. The roadway shall be completed before any report is made on the petition for acceptance.
Sections 243-10, 243-11 and 243-12 of this article shall have no application to highways laid out and established within that area of the City which is bounded as follows: easterly by the westerly line of Bridge Street; westerly by land now or lately of Fisk Rubber Company; northerly by the southerly bank of the Chicopee River; and southerly by the northerly line of Main and West Main Streets.
No street or way shall hereafter be laid out, established or accepted as a public street in the City of Chicopee unless the sewer or drain therein, if one exists at the time of acceptance, is constructed in accordance with the directions of or is approved by the City Engineer in regard to the dimensions, materials and grade thereof.
[Amended 9-1-2009]
All petitions which may be presented to the City Council for laying out, widening, altering, relocating or discontinuing any street or way in the City shall be referred to the standing Committee on Highways, which shall give a public hearing thereon at such time and place as said Committee shall determine. The Committee shall cause a written notice of such hearing, signed by the City Clerk, to be left at the usual place of abode of the owners of the land over which such way is proposed to be laid out, widened, altered, relocated or discontinued and of the owners of land abutting on said way or to be delivered to such owners in person or to the tenants or authorized agents of such owners. If an owner has no such place of abode in the City and no tenant or authorized agent therein known to the Committee or if, being a resident of the City, he is not known as such to the Committee, such notice shall be posted up in some public place in the City. Said notices shall be delivered or posted up at least seven days before the time appointed for the hearing. At the time and place appointed, the Committee shall meet and hear all parties interested who shall claim to be heard. The Committee shall view the premises and, after such view and hearing, shall report to the City Council whether the common convenience and necessity require that such street be laid out, widened, relocated, altered or discontinued as petitioned for; and in case the report is in favor of granting the petition, it shall contain a description of the boundaries and measurements of the street as proposed, the names of the owners of all lands included therein or abutting thereon who claim damage by reason of the laying out, widening, relocating, altering or discontinuing of said street or persons affected by said laying out, widening, relocating or discontinuing of such street or way as proposed, together with the amount of damages proper and reasonable to be awarded to each of such owners or other persons affected by said laying out, widening, relocating or discontinuing. The aforesaid notices may be served by the Chief of Police or any duly qualified police officer, constable or special police officer who may be designated by the Mayor or the City Council.
No street or way shall be altered in its grade to the damage of any persons or corporation, in any real estate or in the convenient use and enjoyment of any interest in any real estate unless like proceedings are had in reference to notice, hearing, report and determination as are provided for in the case of laying out streets.
The Superintendent of Streets shall, immediately on the completion of the installation of a curbing on any street or way, have the proper assessment bill of 1/2 the cost of such installation sent to each and every estate owner whose estate abuts on such improved street or way. The Superintendent of Streets shall see that the City Collector and the City Auditor are furnished a duplicate bill of each and every charge.
In all streets and roads in which main sewers or water pipes are laid and in all streets and roads that may be paved with so-called permanent material, all pipe connections shall first be made and sub ends carried to the side of the street to each respective lot. Such connections shall be made whether or not the abutting property is improved.