* § 205-c. Minimum maintenance roads. 1. a. The town board of any
designated town may, after a public hearing, adopt a local law
designating any low-volume road or portion thereof providing
agricultural or recreational land access, except for farm access roads
or roads that provide access to an individual year-round residence at
the time of designation, as a minimum maintenance road. No such law
shall restrict farm operations in an agricultural district. Such local
law shall not prevent the state from maintaining such road if the road
passes over, or provides access to, state land. No such law designating
a minimum maintenance road shall be effective until signs are posted
advising the public that such road is a minimum maintenance road. No
road, once designated a minimum maintenance road, shall be determined to
have been abandoned pursuant to the provisions of subdivision one of
section two hundred five of this article solely because it has been
designated a minimum maintenance road.

b. At least forty-five days prior to the public hearing on such local
law the town board having jurisdiction over such road shall issue
findings that such road or portion thereof should be designated a
minimum maintenance road. Such findings shall include, but not be
limited to:

(i) the volume and type of motor vehicle traffic on such road;

(ii) a determination that the property owners of land abutting the
road shall continue to have access to their property;

(iii) a determination that the users of the road traveling at a
reasonable and prudent speed, under the circumstances, shall not be
placed in a hazardous situation;

(iv) a determination that such road, or portion thereof, does not
constitute a farm access road as defined in this section; and

(v) the effect of such designation on any farm operations dependent
upon the road, and that such designation does not restrict farm
operations in agricultural districts.

A copy of the town board's findings shall be made available for public
inspection in the town clerk's office and posted to the town website if
available.

A copy of the findings shall be sent to the school board of the school
district in which each road is located and to the town planning board.
Such school board and planning board may review the findings of the town
board and within forty-five days file with the town clerk their
recommendation and findings. In the event the school or planning board
takes no action within the forty-five day review period the town board
may proceed without said board's recommendation and findings. School or
planning board review may be waived, shortened or extended upon mutual
consent of said board and the town board. The town board of the town
may, by resolution, accept, accept in part, or reject the
recommendations of either the school or planning board prior to any vote
upon the proposed local law.

A copy of the findings shall also be sent to the department of
environmental conservation or any other relevant state agency that has
jurisdiction over the land that the road proposed to be designated as
minimum maintenance passes over or provides access to.

c. At least thirty days prior to the public hearing on such local law,
written notice of such hearing, including a summary of the findings,
shall be served by certified mail upon every owner of real property, as
determined by the latest completed assessment roll, abutting such road
or portion thereof.

d. The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the publication
of a notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the
town, and post such notice on the town website if available, specifying
the time when and the place where such hearing will be held, and in
general terms describing the proposed resolution. Such notice shall be
published once at least five days prior to the day specified for such
hearing.

2. A road or road segment located within a designated town, which has
been designated minimum maintenance, shall be maintained at the same
level as other roads within the town but shall not require snow and ice
removal and maintenance. Such level of maintenance shall not restrict
access to farmland by a farm operation eligible for agricultural
assessment pursuant to article twenty-five-AA of the agriculture and
markets law. Minimum maintenance roads shall continue to be part of the
town highway system.

3. a. Any person or persons owning or occupying real property abutting
a road or portion thereof which has been designated a minimum
maintenance road may petition the town having jurisdiction over such
road or portion thereof to discontinue the designation of such road as a
minimum maintenance road. Such petition shall be filed with the clerk of
the town having jurisdiction over such road. Such petition shall
identify the road or portion thereof to be discontinued as a minimum
maintenance road and set forth the reasons for such discontinuance or
modification. The town board having jurisdiction over such road shall
hold a public hearing upon such petition within thirty days after its
receipt. The town clerk shall give notice of such hearing by the
publication of a notice in at least one newspaper of general circulation
in the town, and post such notice on the town website if available,
specifying the time when and the place where such hearing will be held,
and in general terms describing the proposed resolution. Such notice
shall be published once at least five days prior to the day specified
for such hearing.

b. In the event the town board, after such public hearing, determines
that such designation shall continue unchanged, no additional petition
may be submitted by a person or persons pursuant to this section until
the lapse of at least twenty-four months from the date of the filing of
the previous petition filed by such person or persons.

c. The town board having jurisdiction over a minimum maintenance road
may adopt a local law discontinuing such minimum maintenance road
designation in the event it determines such discontinuance to be in the
public interest.

4. When used in this section, unless otherwise expressly stated, or
unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires, the following
terms shall have the following meanings:

a. "Low-volume road" shall mean a town highway or portion thereof
located in a designated town, when such highway has an average daily
traffic count of less than four hundred motor vehicles per day. Such
term shall not apply to any highway or road or portion thereof which has
previously been abandoned pursuant to subdivision one of section two
hundred five of this article because it shall not have been used or
traveled as a highway for six years.

b. "Agricultural land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
provides access to farm land. Traffic volumes are low and vary
seasonally.

c. "Farm access road" shall mean a low-volume road that provides
principal motor vehicle access for the transport of goods and services
necessary for effective support of a farm's daily operations to and from
the primary location or center of such operations. Traffic volume is
generally low, significantly less than four hundred motor vehicles per
day, and may include occasional heavy vehicles and farm equipment as
well as other motor vehicles.

d. "Recreation land access road" shall mean a low-volume road that
provides access to recreational land including seasonal dwellings, parks
and recreational lands. Volumes can vary with the type of recreation
facility, activity and season of the year.

e. "Minimum maintenance road" shall mean a low-volume agricultural or
recreational access road or portion thereof with an average daily
traffic count of less than fifty motor vehicles per day designated by
the designated town as minimum maintenance pursuant to this section,
except for a farm access road or a road which provides access to an
individual year-round residence at the time it is proposed to be
designated minimum maintenance.

f. "Motor vehicle" shall mean a motor vehicle as defined by section
one hundred twenty-five of the vehicle and traffic law.

g. "Designated town" shall mean the town of Lorraine, Jefferson
county.

5. Nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting, diminishing
or otherwise affecting the powers of any municipality other than the
designated town.

* NB Repealed December 8, 2031