Additional Laws

NY State Law Section 319

Date Posted: April 14, 2015
Date Adopted: April 14, 2015

Overview:

Now that winter is fully upon us, it is important to be reminded of a few things in regards to snow removal and winter driving:

Highway agencies spend a considerable amount of tax money to ensure the roads are cleared in an efficient manner after snow and ice events. Snow removal efforts do not guarantee bare or dry roads.

The cost to provide these conditions would far outstrip what most tax payers would be willing to pay.

Even when bare roads can be obtained, weather conditions such as wind and rapidly dropping temperatures can alter highway conditions dramatically from one area to the next. The best course of action for anyone traveling during the winter months is to adjust your driving to meet the conditions present.
“Slick Roads Cause Accidents” is often a frequent newspaper headline during the winter months. The truth is that slick roads may contribute to an accident but they are not the sole cause of accidents.

Accidents are generally caused by drivers who fail to drive appropriately for winter conditions. Sections 1180(a) and 1180(e) of the Vehicle and Traffic law state that “No person shall drive a vehicle at a speed greater than is reasonable and prudent under the conditions and having regard to the actual and potential hazards then existing.” Accepted safe winter driving practices include, but are not limited to, slower driving, increased braking distance and increased vehicle separation. Following these guidelines will significantly reduce your chances of being involved in an accident on slick roads.
During and after snow events, highway agencies, in the course of plowing, receive phone calls regarding damage to mailboxes, either from snow plows directly or from the force of snow being thrown by plows.

If such damage is indeed caused by snow removal, it is not done intentionally. It is, however, an unfortunate consequence of snow removal. As far as the particular agencies replacing damaged mailboxes, it must be pointed out that there is no statutory or legal authority requiring them to do so. In fact, under Section 319 of the New York State Highway Law, mailboxes are considered highway obstructions and are only “allowed” in the right-of-way as a convenience to the owner as it is understood they are required for mail delivery. Additionally, an opinion issued by theAttomey General on February 28, 1966 stated, “When the necessity of keeping the highway open conflicts with an individual’s reception of the mail, the later must stand aside.” Highway crews do their best to avoid mailboxes, but often times visibility, oncoming traffic and heavy snow work against them. The best method to protect your mailbox during the winter months is to ensure it is properly attached to the post and to keep the mailbox assembly simple to limit impact surface are for plowed snow.

David Becker
Lewis County Highway Superintendent

Don Cook Highway Superintendent
Town of Pinckney
587 County Route 194
Copenhagen, NY 13626

Seasonal Use Classification

Date Posted: June 11, 2015
Date Adopted: June 11, 2015

Overview:

Amendment to the Town of Pinckney Zoning Law

Use, Seasonal: A use which will not have access to a snow-plowed or winter maintained public road or be provided with vehicular public services such as, but not limited to, emergency services, school busing or postal delivery during the winter snow season.

Purpose: The purpose of this regulation is to provide for the reasonable use of recreational, agricultural and forestry properties which are accessed solely by minimum maintenance roads. This regulation allows for the reasonable use of such lands for seasonal uses without the prohibitively expensive public cost of providing for wheeled vehicular access through the snowplowing and the winter maintenance of minimum maintenance roads.
Seasonal use classification is a use classification in addition to the use classifications of Section 410 of this law. Application for seasonal use classification may be made for any use which intends to have its principal access to a minimum maintenance road.
For a use to be established with its principal access to a minimum maintenance road, it must, in addition to the allowed use requirement of Section 410 of this law, also be classified as a seasonal use.
Where a use has access to both a minimum maintenance road and to a non-minimum maintenance road, such use shall have its principal access to the non-minimum maintenance road unless classified as a seasonal use.

Town of Pinckney Driveway Installation Law

Date Posted: June 11, 2015
Date Adopted: June 11, 2015

Overview:

Driveway Installation Law

The Town Board of the Town of Pinckney finds that the improper construction of private driveways intersecting town highways may be hazardous to the public and poses unnecessary expense to the town and that installation of driveways according to specific standards as monitored by the Town of Pinckney Highway Superintendent will be in the best interests of the health, safety and welfare of the citizens and property of the town.

No person, owner and/or contractor shall hereafter install a driveway opening onto a town road without first obtaining a driveway installation permit from the Town of Pinckney Highway Superintendent.

A. An application in writing shall be filed with the Town of Pinkney Highway Superintendent upon application forms which he shall prescribe, which application shall state the nature, location, extent and purpose of the proposed driveway opening, and the use of the property as identified on any coincident zoning application.

B. Applications shall include maps and plans which shall indicate the location and boundaries of the subject property for which a permit is requested and shall show the location, elevation, size and type of all existing and proposed driveways and buildings, underground utilities, service facilities, parking layouts and drainage facilities.

C. It shall be the responsibility of the applicant to arrange a meeting with the town highway superintendent at the site of the driveway opening.

A. Any driveway culvert required by the town highway superintendent that is within the town right-of-way shall be designed, installed and maintained by the Town of Pinckney.

B. The applicant shall be responsible for the cost of any required culvert, and the cost of any agreed upon stone above one load, as well as the cost of trucking and loading for stone above one load. Such cost shall be as determined by town board resolution.

C. The entire cost of any additional driveway culverts above one culvert per property shall be the responsibility of the applicant.

D. The town shall not perform any work on designing, installing or maintaining any required culvert until all costs have been paid by the applicant.

A. A driveway installation permit under this law shall be applied for coincidentally with the application for a zoning permit to commence the excavation for or the construction or erection of any structure regulated by the Town of Pinckney Zoning Law, as amended.

B. No driveway installation permit shall be issued for any use on a minimum maintenance road as established in Local Law No.1 of 2002, as amended, unless it is classified as a seasonal use pursuant to the Town of Pinckney Zoning Law.

The application shall be accompanied by such fee or fees as the town board shall prescribe from time to time by resolution not exceeding the approximate reasonable cost of processing and reviewing the application and making any necessary inspections.

Any person, firm or corporation who or which shall violate any provision of this chapter shall, upon conviction thereof, be sentenced to pay a fine.

Town of Pinckney Unsafe Structures Law

Date Adopted: April 16, 2003

Unsafe Structures Law

Section 1. Purpose

Unsafe structures pose a threat to life and property in the Town of Pinckney. Buildings and structures may become unsafe by reason of damage by fire, the elements, age or general deterioration. Vacant buildings not properly secured at doorways and windows also serve as an attractive nuisance for young children who may be injured therein, as well as point of congregation by vagrants and transients. A dilapidated structure may also serve as a place of rodent infestation, thereby creating a health menace to the community. It is the purpose of this local law to provide for the safety, health protection, and general welfare of persons and property in the Town of Pinckney by requiring such unsafe structures be repaired or demolished and removed.

Section 2. Authority

This law is enacted pursuant to Articles 2 and 3 of Municipal Home Rule Law and Section 130 (16) of the Town Law.

Section 3. Name

This local law shall be known as the “Unsafe Structure Law of the Town of Pinckney.”

Section 4. Definitions

Words used in this law shall have the following meaning:

Structure: Anything constructed or erected, the use of which requires location on the ground, or attachment to something located on the ground.

Enforcement Officer: The enforcing officer of the Town of Pinckney or such other person appointed by the town board to enforce the provisions of this local law.

Section 5. Investigation and Report

The enforcement officer, when in his own opinion or upon receipt of information that a structure (1) is or may become dangerous or unsafe to the general public, (2) is open at the doorways and windows making it accessible to and an object of attraction to minors under eighteen years of age, as well as to vagrants or other trespassers, (3) is or may become a place of rodent infestation, (4) presents any other danger to the health, safety, morals, and general welfare of the public, or (5) is unfit for the purposes for which it may lawfully be used, shall cause or make an inspection thereof and report in writing to the town board his findings and recommendations in regard to its repair or demolition and removal.

Section 6. Town Board Officer

The town board shall thereafter consider such report and by resolution determine, if in its opinion the report so warrants, that there is a probable cause to believe that such structure is unsafe and dangerous, and order its repair if the same can be safely repaired, or its demolition and removal, and further order that a notice be served upon the persons and in the same manner provided herein.

Section 7. Contents of Notice

The notice shall contain the following: (1) a description of the premises, (2) a statement of the particulars in which the structure is unsafe or dangerous, (3) a report outlining the manner in which the structure is to be made safe or secure, or demolished and removed, (4) a statement that the securing or removal of such structure shall commence within 30 days of the service of the notice and shall be completed within 60 days thereafter, unless for good cause shown such time shall be extended, (5) a date, time, and place for a hearing before the town board in relation to such dangerous or unsafe structure, which hearing shall be scheduled not less than ten business days from the date of service of the notice, and (6) a statement that in the event of neglect or refusal to comply with the order to secure or demolish and remove the structure, the town board is authorized to provide for its demolition and removal, to assess all expenses thereof against the owner and to institute a special proceeding to collect the costs of demolition, including legal costs.

Section 8. Service of Notice

The said notice shall be served (1) by personal service of a copy thereof upon the owner, executor, administrator, agent, lessee, or any person having a vested interest or contingent interest in such unsafe structure as shown by the records of the tax collector or of the county clerk; or if no such person can be reasonably found by mailing such owner by certified mail a copy of such notice directed to his last known address as shown by the above records, and (2) by personal service of a copy of such notice upon any adult person residing in or occupying such premises if such person can be reasonably found, and (3) by securely affixing a copy of such notice upon the unsafe structure.

Section 9. Notice to County Clerk

A copy of the notice served as provided herein shall be filed in the Office of the Lewis County Clerk.

Section 10. Refusal to Comply

In the event of the refusal or neglect of the person so notified to comply with said order of the town board after the hearing, the town board shall provide for the demolition and removal of such building or structure either by Town employees or by contract.

Section 11. Recovery of Costs

All costs and expenses incurred by the town in connection with the administratively and/or judicially substantiated proceedings to remove or secure, including the cost of actually removing said building or structure shall be assessed against the land on which said building or structure is located.

The town board may commence a special proceeding in a court of competent jurisdiction to collect the cost of demolition, removal or repair of such structure, including reasonable and necessary expenses or incidental to obtaining an order to demolish, from the owner or occupant of any structure that may now be or shall hereafter become dangerous or unsafe to the public. The provisions of Article 4 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules shall govern any special proceeding commenced under this section.

Section 12. Emergency Cases

Where it reasonably appears that there is present a clear an imminent danger to the life, safety, or health of any person or property, unless an unsafe structure is immediately repaired and secured or demolished, the town board may by resolution authorize the enforcement officer to immediately cause the repair or demolition of such unsafe structure. The expenses of such repair or demolition shall be recovered as provided in Section 11 hereof.

Section 13. Cost of Enforcement Officer

The enforcement officer appointed as provided herein shall be paid reasonable compensation as shall be fixed by the town board.

Section 14. Validity

If any section, paragraph, subdivision, or provision of this law shall be declared invalid, such invalidity shall apply only to the section, paragraph, subdivision, or provision adjudged invalid and the rest of the law shall remain valid and effective.

Section 15. Effective Date

This law shall take effect immediately upon filing thereof in the Office of the Secretary of State.