[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the Town of Clarkstown 4-3-1974 by L.L. No. 2-1974 as Ch. 18 of the 1974 Code; amended in its entirety 6-16-2009 by L.L. No. 4-2009. Subsequent amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Vehicles and traffic — See Ch. 278.
The Town Board of the Town of Clarkstown, aware of the needs of a progressive and expanding community, and further aware that the growth of the Town of Clarkstown has created traffic hazards and fire hazards resulting from motor vehicle operation in various parts of the Town, acting under authority of the Town Law of the State of New York, hereby determines that the enactment of this chapter will contribute to minimize and, wherever possible, prevent traffic congestion on public streets and highways and ameliorate traffic and other motor-vehicle-caused fire hazards and thus will also contribute to promoting and protecting the public health, safety and general welfare.
A. 
The Town Board is hereby authorized and empowered to create a Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board, which shall consist of seven members, who shall be especially qualified by reason of training or experience in traffic safety, traffic engineering, fire safety and fire safety engineering, planning of traffic and parking patterns to enable their use by emergency vehicles, community planning or other relevant business or profession or by reason of civic interest and sound judgment.
B. 
The members of the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall be appointed by the Town Board. The Fire Inspector, the Chief of Police, the Building Inspector and the Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Clarkstown or their designees, are hereby designated advisors to this Board. The Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall elect a Chairman from its own members. The term of office of the Chairman shall be one year. The Town Board may provide for compensation to be paid to said members and a Secretary and provide for such other expenses as may be necessary and proper, not exceeding in all the appropriations that may be made by the Town Board for such Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board. The Town Board is hereby authorized to make such appropriation as it may see fit for such expenses; however, such expenses shall be a charge upon the taxable property of that part of the Town outside of incorporated villages.
C. 
Members shall be appointed for terms of five years. If a vacancy shall occur otherwise than by expiration of a term, it shall be filled by the Town Board by appointment for the unexpired term. Except as hereinabove stated, persons appointed by the Town Board to fill an unexpired term shall do so at the pleasure of the Town Board.
D. 
Meetings of the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall be held at such time as the Board may determine and at such times at the call of the Chairman. Four members of such Board shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. All meetings of such Board shall be open to the public. The Board shall keep minutes of its proceedings, showing the vote of each member upon any question or, if absent or failing to vote, indicating such fact, and shall also keep records of its examinations and official actions. Every rule, regulation, every amendment, or repeal thereof, and every requirement, decision or determination of the Board shall immediately be filed in the office of the Town Clerk and shall be a public record. The Board shall have the power to adopt, amend and repeal rules and regulations after a public hearing by the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board and subject to the approval of the Town Board governing its procedure and the transaction of business.
A. 
The Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall review the traffic and fire rules, regulations, ordinances or local laws adopted or to be adopted by the Town of Clarkstown regulating and controlling traffic and parking in the Town of Clarkstown, including but not limited to speed limits, parking, traffic signals, blind intersections, bad curves, delineation of fire lanes, fire zones, traffic and parking patterns in subdivisions, sites and shopping centers and the elimination of traffic hazards and traffic-connected fire hazards in the Town of Clarkstown.
B. 
The Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall investigate and report to the Town Board upon the problems referred to it by the Town Board or Town officials.
C. 
Prior to the holding of a public hearing by any Town agency other than the Town Board, the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall review traffic patterns and parking facilities for new construction, including but not limited to subdivisions, site layouts and shopping centers, in cooperation with the Planning Board, for fire hazards, traffic hazards, ingress and egress for emergency vehicles of all types and kinds, the location and number of fire hydrants and other interrelated factors.
D. 
The Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall coordinate Town traffic and safety programs with similar programs of adjacent municipalities and the County of Rockland.
E. 
Nothing herein contained shall give the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board any authority or supervision over the Building Inspector, Fire Inspector, Chief of Police or Superintendent of Highways of the Town of Clarkstown in the performance of the duties enjoined upon them by law.
The Town Board may, by resolution, ordinance or local law, provide for the referral of any matter to the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board before the final action thereon by the body or officer of the Town having final authority to act thereon, with or without the provision that final action thereon shall not be taken until the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board has submitted its report or has had a reasonable time, to be fixed by the Town Board, to submit the report.
Upon receipt of applications for traffic calming devices, the Traffic and Traffic Fire Safety Advisory Board shall recommend traffic calming measures to the Town Board for its review and action, based on criteria set forth in the Town of Clarkstown Traffic Calming Program, in conjunction with the Traffic Technical Advisory Committee and after preliminary review of said applications by Town staff, including but not limited to the Superintendent of Highways and the Town's traffic consultant.