Looking to transfer ownership of an old road
Question:
What is the process to transfer a road from a County to a Town?
Background:
A county is looking to transfer ownership of a short segment of old road (0.33 miles) from the County to a Town. The County invested over $600K to bring the drainage and road surface up to their standards and now wants to turn it over to the Town
What is the section of law that controls and what is the process?
Answer:
Section 115-b of Highway Law is the section to be used in this case. The bold text below will highlight the critical points. The board of supervisors is the legislature in some counties. http://public.leginfo.state.ny.us/lawssrch.cgi?NVLWO:
Highway
ยง 115-b. Removal of road or part of road from county road system. Upon
the recommendation of the county superintendent of highways and pursuant
to a written agreement with the governing body of a town, village or
city, or in the event such an agreement cannot be reached with the
approval of the commissioner of transportation, the board of supervisors
of any county may remove a road or part of a road from the county road
system and upon adoption of the resolution therefor by the board the
county map, referred to in section one hundred fifteen of this chapter,
shall be amended as provided for in said section so as to eliminate said
road or part of said road from said map and said road or part of said
road shall thereupon revert to the town or towns or village or city or
cities wherein said road or part of said road is situated and thereafter
shall be maintained by said town or towns or village or city or cities
in the same manner as other town highways and village streets and city
streets are maintained.
Essentially, the County Highway Superintendent makes a recommendation, and an agreement needs to be approved by both the Town Board and the County Legislature. You should follow up afterward with NYSDOT to update the CHIPS highway milage report.
Resources:
284 Agreement (word doc)
284 Agreement (PDF)