[HISTORY: Adopted by the Town Board of the
Town of Esopus as indicated in section histories. Amendments noted
where applicable.]
[Adopted 5-20-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
A.
No civil action shall be maintained against the Town
or Town Superintendent of Highways, nor other employees or officers
thereof, acting in such capacity, for damages or injuries to person
or property sustained by reason of any highway, bridge, street, sidewalk,
crosswalk, or culvert being defective, out of repair, unsafe, dangerous
or obstructed unless, prior to the occurrence resulting in such damages
or injuries, written notice of the defective, unsafe, dangerous or
obstructed condition of such highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk
or culvert was actually given to the Town Clerk or Town Superintendent
of Highways, and there was a failure or neglect within a reasonable
time after the giving of such notice to repair or remove the defect,
danger or obstruction complained of.
B.
No such action shall be maintained for damages or
injuries to personal property sustained solely in consequence of the
existence of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge, street, sidewalk,
crosswalk or culvert unless written notice thereof, specifying the
particular place, was actually given to the Town Clerk or Town Superintendent
of Highways and there was failure or neglect to cause such snow or
ice to be removed, or to make the place otherwise reasonably safe
within a reasonable time after the receipt of such notice.
[Adopted 5-20-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
The written notice hereunder shall contain at
least the following information:
A.
Name and mailing address of the person giving notice.
B.
A precise statement as to the nature and extent of
any defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed condition or the existence
of snow or ice upon any highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk
or culvert within the Town of Esopus.
C.
The approximate date that such condition first became
known to the person giving the notice.
D.
The exact location of such condition, giving wherever
possible reference to a street address or addresses, utility pole
numbers or such other geographic reference as will aid the Town in
properly locating such condition.
[Adopted 5-20-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
The Town Superintendent of Highways shall transmit
in writing to the Town Clerk within five days after receipt thereof
all written notices received pursuant to this chapter and Subdivision
2 of § 65-a of the Town Law. The Town Clerk shall cause
all written notices received pursuant to this chapter and Subdivision
2 of § 65-a of the Town Law, to be presented to the Town
Board within five days of the receipt thereof or at the next succeeding
Town Board meeting, whichever shall be sooner.
[Adopted 5-20-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
The Town Clerk shall keep an index, record,
in a separate book, of all written notices which he or she shall receive
regarding the existence of a defective, unsafe, dangerous or obstructed
condition in or upon, or of an accumulation of ice and snow upon,
any Town highway, bridge, street, sidewalk, crosswalk or culvert,
which record shall state the date of receipt of the notice, the nature
and location of the condition stated to exist and the name and address
of the person from whom the notice was received. The record of such
notice shall be preserved for a period of five years from the date
it is received.
[Adopted 5-20-2004 by L.L. No. 2-2004]
For the purposes of this chapter, the terms
"highway," "bridge," "street," "sidewalk," "crosswalk," and "culvert"
shall include, but not be limited to, every grating, opening, drain,
sewer, pier, dock, park, recreational facility, parking lot, path,
step or stairway and any other means of access of every kind, nature
and description whatsoever leading thereto or therefrom, which is
owned, controlled and maintained by the Town of Esopus.
[Adopted 3-9-1988 by L.L. No. 5-1988]
The Town of Esopus will not accept for dedication
any road which does not meet the minimum standards set forth below:
A.
All of the applicable provisions of the Highway Law
must be strictly complied with.
B.
The cost of construction shall be borne by the person
offering the road for dedication.
C.
The right-of-way shall be 50 feet in width.
D.
The paved portion of the highway shall be 26 feet
in width, except in the case of a permanent dead-end highway not more
than 600 feet in length, in which case it may be 22 feet in width
under the conditions that there shall be no on-street parking, and
all other regulations of this chapter shall be complied with.
[Amended 11-19-2009 by L.L. No. 9-2009]
E.
The center line of the paved portion of the road must
also be the center line of the right-of-way. The Superintendent of
Highways, for good cause shown, may modify this requirement, in writing.
F.
Before any highway is to be laid out, the Town Superintendent
of Highways must be consulted. In the event that the highway is to
be laid out in an area where sewer and water lines have been installed,
the owner must also consult the Superintendent of the Water and Sewer
Department. Strict adherence to the water and sewer regulations is
a prerequisite to the Town's accepting the road as a Town highway.
G.
Before any highway is to be laid out, the Superintendent
of Highways shall be furnished with a survey, in triplicate, prepared
by a licensed surveyor in the State of New York of the proposed highway.
H.
All boundaries of the proposed road shall be marked
with suitable permanent markers of steel or stone; all corners shall
have permanent markers; all tangents of over 1,000 feet shall have
markers set at no less than five-hundred-foot intervals.
I.
Before construction commences, the right-of-way shall
be completely cleared of brush and trees for the full length and width
of the proposed road. New roads shall extend to the furthest edge
of the owner's property line.
J.
Drainage.
(1)
After consultation with the Town Superintendent of
Highways, the owner shall, at his own cost and expense, install all
drainage structures and driveway crossings of a design, size and length
acceptable to the Superintendent of Highways.
(2)
Easements shall be obtained, if necessary, for drainage
ditches, which shall also be of a size and design satisfactory to
the Superintendent of Highways.
K.
Roadway. The full fifty-foot width of roadway shall
be graded to conform to a typical cross section, a copy of which is
annexed hereto.[1] The road profile shall be submitted to the Town Superintendent
of Highways for approval before construction commences; said road
shall be constructed to the grade indicated on the profile approved
by the Superintendent of Highways. The grade shall be in accordance
with good engineering practice and shall be so laid out that additional
work by the Town shall be unnecessary after dedication and acceptance.
[1]
Editor's Note: See the Typical Section at
the end of this chapter.
L.
Road proper.
(1)
The twenty-six-foot-wide traveled portion of the road
shall be excavated to a depth of no less than 15 inches below the
finished grade. The subbase of the traveled portion of the mad shall
be made of hard shale, graded gravel, quarry rubble or Item 4.
(2)
The subbase must be thoroughly compacted with a suitable
heavy roller and trimmed to present an even surface. Both the profile
and cross section of the subbase shall be covered with three inches
of plant-mixed asphalt base, which in turn shall be rolled and compacted.
The final layer shall consist of one-and-one-half-inch Type No. 7
asphalt topping, which shall also be rolled and compacted with suitable
and proper equipment. Prior to compaction of each of the three steps
set forth above, no additional layer of road surfacing may be applied
until and unless the Superintendent of Highways finds that the compaction
has been accomplished according to good engineering practice.
M.
Utility poles or underground utilities must be located
in the outside edge of the fifty-foot right-of-way, not more than
five feet from the outermost portion of the right-of-way, and must
be installed prior to acceptance of the road.
N.
Dead-end roads.
(1)
Dead-end roads will generally not be accepted by the
Town; however, if the terrain or the physical characteristics of the
land allow no alternative except for a dead end, the owner must install
a T-turnaround, which must be at least 50 feet in width (that direction
which follows the right-of-way) and 150 feet in length (the direction
which runs at right angles to the right-of-way). The T shall be on
the center line of the right-of-way. The area occupied by the turnaround
shall be a part of the deed proffered to the Town for the road. The
T shall be constructed in the same manner as the traveled portion
of the road.
(2)
Prior to offering to dedicate the road to the Town,
the owner shall furnish the Attorney for the Town with a title policy,
which shall specifically state, among other things, that the lands
to be dedicated for a road are free and clear of all encumbrances.
The dedication of the road to the Town shall be accomplished in exact
compliance with the Highway Law. The owner shall also furnish the
Town with the cost of filing the deed in the Ulster County Clerk's
office.
O.
The map filed by the owner shall designate the street
name.
P.
A two-inch-by-ten-foot steel pole shall be erected,
together with the name of the street, by the owner. Such sign shall
be white on a green background and shall be on a standard extruded
sign blank.
Q.
A true and accurate street survey showing all lots
and properties to be used in the allocation of present and future
street numbering shall also be filed with said map.
R.
No road will be accepted for dedication which has
more than a twelve-percent grade.
S.
Any deviation from any of the above requirements can
only be made by a written release from the Town Superintendent of
Highways. Such a release shall accompany the owner's petition for
the acceptance of the proposed road as a Town highway.
[Adopted 3-9-1988 by L.L. No. 6-1988;
amended 11-19-2009 by L.L. No. 9-2009]
A.
No person,
firm or corporation may enter from private lands onto a Town Highway
in the Town of Esopus without first obtaining a permit to do so from
the Superintendent of Highways. The Superintendent of Highways will
consider sight distance, terrain, drainage problems, etc., before
granting or denying the permit. Access into private lands from any
state or county roadway must be approved by either the New York State
Department of Transportation or the Ulster County Department of Public
Works.
B.
The application
for a driveway permit shall be made in duplicate on forms supplied
by the Building Department.
C.
For existing
lots which were not approved by the Town of Esopus Planning Board,
or for lots approved by the Planning Board on which substantial improvements,
such as construction of a structure requiring a building permit or
the installation of a driveway and septic system, have not been undertaken
within 60 months of Planning Board approval, the following standards
shall be met in the construction of driveways:
(1)
Driveway
locations shall be shown on the plat or site plan. The maximum gradient
to the building site shall not exceed 12%, unless waived by the Building
Inspector and/or the Highway Superintendent and the intersection of
driveways with the road shall be perpendicular for at least 25 feet,
unless specifically waived by the Building Inspector and/or the Highway
Superintendent.
(2)
All
required drainage shall be included with the building permit application
on the plot plan, as submitted, and subject to the approval of the
Town of Esopus Building Inspector and Town of Esopus Highway Superintendent
unless modified by the applicable county or state agency.
(3)
The
minimum radius on turns shall be 50 feet.
(4)
If a
driveway is 1,200 feet or longer, there shall be twelve-foot-by-thirty-foot
turnout at intervals, not to exceed 800 feet or as site conditions
may allow.
(5)
Driveways
shall be 12 feet wide and founded on material acceptable to the Building
Inspector and/or the Highway Superintendent.
(6)
The
Building Inspector may require that the applicant submit topographic
and design information to demonstrate compliance with these standards.
