Public Notice
The parking of vehicles is hereby prohibited on all highways, or any other public property of the Town of Wawayanda between the hours of 10:00pm to 6:00am, beginning the first day of October in each year, and to continue through the first day of April on the next year.

Parking Prohibited Certain Hours
No person shall park a vehicle between the hours specified in Schedule VIII (180-27) of any day, unless otherwise indicated, upon any streets or parts of streets described in said Schedule VIII, attached to and made part of this chapter.

Parking After Snowfall
It shall be unlawful to delay or obstruct any vehicle or equipment engaged in the operation of snow removal on any street or highway within the town. It shall be unlawful for any person to park any vehicle upon any street or highway within the town after a precipitation of snow of one (1) inch or more, and before such snow is cleared. The owner or any person in charge or in control of any vehicles standing in such street shall move or cause the same to be moved so as not to be in the path of equipment plowing or clearing the streets or highway of snow.

Seasonal Parking Restriction
The parking of vehicles is hereby prohibited on all highways or any other public highway of the town between the hours of 10:00pm and 6:00am beginning on the first day of October in each year and continuing through the first day of April of the next succeeding year.

Don't Put Snow Back on the Road
During the recent winter storms, I have noticed a disturbing trend which causes a very dangerous road hazard to exist.

Sometimes after a snow plow has passed a residence or business, the homeowner, businessman, or their plowing contractor proceeds to clear the driveway or lot and plows the snow directly onto the roadway. This creates a dangerous condition because the pile of snow represents an obstruction to the motorist. Some of these piles of snow are large enough to cause a vehicle to lose control, resulting in injury to person and property, or possible death.

Section 1219 of NYS Vehicle and Traffic Law quite clearly states that "No person shall ... deposit upon any highway ... snow or any other substance likely to injure any person, animal, or vehicle upon such highway." It further states that "Any person who drops, or permits to be dropped or thrown, upon any highway ... any material which interferes with the safe use of the highway shall immediately remove the same or cause it to be removed."

Those persons placing the obstruction in the roadway, or allowing their snow plow operator to leave an obstruction in the roadway are leaving themselves wide open for a massive lawsuit.
Be advised, it is against the law. You should act accordingly.

Mailbox Policy
Mailboxes on Highway Rights of Way which are Displaced by Highway Plows in the Course of Snow Removal - There is no statuary or legal authority which grants a property owner or resident along a public highway any right to place a mailbox in a highway right of way. The owner may have an informal license, but this does not endow the owner of the mailbox with any legal rights in the highway when needed for highway purposes.

The Highway Superintendent and the State have a duty to keep the highway available for public use. Snow removal and snow storage are an incident of that use.

"The highways of the state are made for and devoted to public travel, and the whole public have the right to their use in their entirety and when obstructions to public travel are found within their bounds, the commissioners of highways are clothed with the power to remove them without waiting for the slow process of law, even though travel be not absolutely and entirely prevented." (Emphasis supplied). Van Wych v. Lent, 33 Hun 301.

When the necessity of keeping the highway open conflicts with the individual's receipt of the mail, the latter must stand aside. The owner might even be compelled to remove the box under Highway Law S319.

The owner has no right to interfere with the speedy and efficient removal of snow by placing the mailbox in such a position as to cause this result, and no liability results on the part of the public official charged with the duty of snow removal if such a box is so placed that it may be injured by proper highway maintenance. (Informal opinion Attorney General 2/28/66)

In order to survive snow removal operations, a mail box must be properly situated, constructed and maintained. Click here for the USPS regulations. Access is also the responsibility of the owner to maintain. Check your mailbox and post annually for proper height and sturdiness. If you can wiggle the mailbox or post, it most likely will not survive many more snowstorms.