Town Explains Municipal Snow Removal Policy For Private Roads

The town has explained its policy on municipal snow removal on private roads that have at least three occupied homes on them, in order to keep those roads open and accessible for emergency vehicles.

This policy applies to new residential subdivisions in which homes have been built and occupied, but whose roads have not yet been accepted as town roads by the Board of Selectmen. After roads have been accepted as town roads, those roads receive regular town snow removal.

In a recent statement, First Selectman Herb Rosenthal said that the town has received many complaints from land developers who say that the town’s snow removal in subdivisions with private roads has resulted in physical damage to curbs by town snowplows.

Consequently, the town’s snowplow trucks will now make only one plowing-and-sanding pass down the center of such roads, well away from the curbs, according to Mr Rosenthal.

A subdivision’s developer will be responsible for the removal of all remaining snow, including snow in the turnaround circle on dead-end streets, to make those roads safe and the residential properties accessible, according to the first selectman.

Developers must plow and sand the roads in a timely manner after a snowstorm, he added.

Also, developers will be responsible for posting stakes, which are at least four feet tall and have reflectors placed on them, to delineate both edges of a road, he said. Such stakes must be placed at each stormwater catch basin and along curves in the road.

Town snowplows will be provided, as needed, for snow removal when emergencies occur and police, fire, and ambulance staffers are dispatched to a location, he said.

Snowplowing complaints received by the town concerning private roads will be referred to land developers, according to Mr Rosenthal. The selectmen’s telephone number is 270-4201.