Legal Question in Real Estate Law in New York
Local municipality makes homeowners responsible for road maintenance.
Since before 1950, county tax maps clearly indicate a municipal roadway in a residential area. In the last 20 years, the responsible town road superintendent has refused to either pave, plow in snowtime, or maintain in any way, (even with providing street signs). The reason given is that the roadway isn`t town property. However, when shown the county tax map which indicate the opposite, the excuse becomes the fact it isn`t 50ft wide, hence, under local laws, doesn`t meet the requirement for a ''road''. Since a fire hydrant is on this roadway, and as we know, fire hydrants must be maintained by the local municipality, and on 911 emergency routing the roadway is listed, how can the town avoid its legal responsibility to the taxpaying homeowners who live on that roadway? In effect, public property has become ''private'' to the degree that because the local council doesn`t want to do it, all maintenance must be done by the affected homeowner at their own cost. What can be done legally to rectify this? (All attempts to have the town correct this have been negative.)
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Local municipality makes homeowners responsible for road maintenance.
Retain an attorney to bring an Article 78 proceeding against the Town. It may make them more responsive.
In examining this response, please note that we are not entering into an attorney/client relationship, that this is to be taken as informative, and not as legal advice, that it is always best to speak to a lawyer in your area and/or in the area where the transaction and/or events occurred, and that my answer is necessarily limited by the fact that I have not seen the documentation or had an opportunity to go over the matters with you in detail.
Re: Local municipality makes homeowners responsible for road maintenance.
You have to check the municipal ordinances on this. Has the municipality at any time adopted an ordinance vacating the road, which means they gave up their rights to the adjacent landowners. You might also need to check the decision of the local zoning board when the development was established to see what may have taken place. Something might be in the decision about responsibility for maintaining the roads, or its abandonment by the municipality. You can request this decision from the secretary of the zoning board under the Open Public Records Act. A Town vacation of street ordinance can be obtained from the Municipal Clerk under the same law. Just being listed on a county map does not mean there is municipal authority. Something may have happened and the map may be outdated.
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