N.Y. Highway Law § 52: Permits for work within the state highway right of way

§ 52. Permits for work within the state highway right of way. Except

in connection with the construction, reconstruction, maintenance or

improvement of a state highway, no person, firm, corporation,

municipality, or state department or agency shall construct or improve,

within the state highway right of way an entrance or connection to such

highway, or construct within the state highway right of way any works,

structure or obstruction, or any overhead or underground crossing

thereof, or lay or maintain therein underground wires or conduits or

drainage, sewer or water pipes, except in accordance with the terms and

conditions of a work permit issued by the commissioner of transportation

or his duly designated agent, notwithstanding any consent or franchise

granted by any town or county superintendent, or by any other municipal

authority. Any municipal corporation may enter upon any state highway

for the purpose of widening the pavement or for any other purpose

authorized by this section, but only after securing a permit as provided

herein. Notwithstanding the limitations in any general or special law,

every municipal corporation shall have and is hereby given authority to

deposit with the department of transportation, such a sum of money or a

security bond as may be required by the commissioner of transportation

as a condition precedent to the granting of the permit provided in this

section.

The commissioner of transportation shall establish regulations

governing the issuance of highway work permits, including the fees to be

charged therefor, a system of deposits of money or bonds guaranteeing

the performance of the work and requirements of insurance to protect the

interests of the state during performance of the work pursuant to a

highway work permit. With respect to driveway entrance permits, the

regulations shall take into consideration the prospective character of

the development, the traffic which will be generated by the facility

within the reasonably foreseeable future, the design and frequency of

access to the facility, the effect of the facility upon drainage as

related to existing drainage systems, the extent to which such facility

may impair the safety and traffic carrying capacity of the existing

state highway and any proposed improvement thereto within the reasonably

foreseeable future, and any standards governing access, non-access or

limited access which have been established by the department of

transportation.

Upon completion of the work within the state highway right of way,

authorized by the work permit, the person, firm, corporation,

municipality, or state department or agency, and his or its successors

in interest, shall be responsible for the maintenance and repair of such

work or portion of such work as set forth within the terms and

conditions of the work permit.

An advertising sign, display or device, or any part thereof, erected

or maintained in violation of this section shall be removed from the

state highway right of way by the owner or the party responsible for its

erection and maintenance. The commissioner of transportation shall make

a demand by mail, to the last known address of the owner, apparent owner

or party responsible for the erection and maintenance of such

advertising sign, display or device, for its removal and, if it is not

removed within thirty days from the date of the mailing of such demand,

the commissioner of transportation may remove any such advertising sign,

display or device, or any part thereof, from the state highway right of

way. Any such legally permitted, erected and maintained sign, display or

device may be maintained by its owner in accordance with the provisions

of this section upon the approval of the permit issuing office on the

same terms and conditions as may exist for the granting of such

approvals generally. Where such approvals are for permits to control

vegetation, the permit issuing office shall approve no more than two

hundred fifty permits per annum. The commissioner of transportation may

also order the approval of additional permits to control vegetation on

an individual basis upon demonstration of acute need.

The term "state highway right of way" shall, for the purposes of this

section, mean the entire width between the boundary line of all property

which has been purchased or appropriated by the state for state highway

purposes, all property over which the commissioner of transportation or

his predecessors has assumed jurisdiction for state highway purposes,

all property over which the commissioner of transportation has assumed

jurisdiction during the period of construction, reconstruction or

improvement and all property which has become part of the state highway

system through dedication or use.

Any person, firm or corporation violating this section shall be liable

to a fine of not less than twenty-five dollars nor more than one

thousand dollars for each day of violation to be recovered by the

commissioner of transportation. All fees, fines or penalties collected

or recovered by the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be

deposited by the comptroller into the special obligation reserve and

payment account of the dedicated highway and bridge trust fund

established pursuant to section eighty-nine-b of the state finance law,

excepting monies deposited with the state on account of betterments

performed pursuant to subdivision twenty-seven or subdivision

thirty-five of section ten of this chapter.