2022 New York Laws
HAY - Highway
Article 8 - Town Highways
205-B - Qualified Abandonment of Certain Town Highways.

§   205-b.   Qualified   abandonment  of  certain  town  highways.  1.
  Abandonment of town highways which are  access  roads  to  state  forest
  preserve lands or lands now owned or hereafter acquired by the state and
  held   under   the  jurisdiction  of  the  department  of  environmental
  conservation shall be qualifiedly abandoned in the following manner  and
  shall have the following effect:
a.   upon   written   notice   to   the  department  of  environmental
  conservation, the town  shall  follow  the  procedure  provided  for  in
  subdivision two of section two hundred five of this chapter;
b.  the  resolution  of abandonment shall provide that even though the
  responsibility of maintenance of the road by the town shall cease, there
  shall remain a public easement over such road in perpetuity;
c. the department of environmental conservation shall have  the  right
  to maintain such road if it so desires;
d.  no  one,  including  the  owner  of  adjoining land, may fence any
  portion of such road, with or without gates;
e. the town, at any time, shall have the right to resume  jurisdiction
  over such road for any purpose;
f. the title to such road shall remain with the town.
2.  For  the  purposes  of  this section, access roads to state forest
  preserve lands or lands under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  environmental
  conservation  department  shall  mean roads which are the only practical
  means of ingress or egress to such state lands.
3. In no event shall the provisions of this section be construed so as
  to require the maintenance or abandonment  of  roads  within  the  state
  forest  preserve  lands  or lands now owned or hereafter acquired by the
  state.