To the Editor:

The town of Guilderland has adopted local laws to enforce the Americans With Disabilities Act including the ADA Transition Plan adopted by the Town Board on Nov. 20, 2024, which applies to public streets, crosswalks, and sidewalks. The ADA Transition Plan designates the town clerk as the person to whom complaints should be filed.

It is similar to the Freedom of Information Law under which the town clerk is designated as the FOIL officer. In both situations, the town clerk forwards the filed document to relevant department heads for a response. The town has other laws for ADA complaints regarding senior transportation services and employment practices that are handled by the town attorney and the director of Human Resources.

The letter claims that the zoning board of appeals and planning board improperly allowed a concrete barrier in the right-of-way of the former bowling alley in the approved site plan for the proposed Dollar General store located at the intersection of Alvina Boulevard and Western Avenue. At the request of the highway superintendent, the concrete curbing was removed to accommodate snowplowing near Western Avenue, a state highway, and has been replaced with a landscaped berm that will greatly improve an unregulated and unsafe open paved area that extends the length of the property. The same type of review takes place for commercial uses that might impact the town’s right-of-way.

Alvina Boulevard has a 62-foot-wide right-of-way, with about 30 feet of paved surface and about 16 feet of unpaved surface on both sides of the paved surface. Like nearly all town roads, Alvina Boulevard is classified as a lightly traveled road, with no center line, shoulder line, or other pavement markings, and no sidewalk.

Except for several streets with unique conditions, on-street parking is also allowed except during overnight winter hours for snowplowing and due to reduced visibility. The 30-foot-wide paved surface has proven more than adequate and safe for shared use by vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians. The typical driving lane on a town road has 25-foot-wide driving lanes and 5 to 7 feet for pedestrians. A similar situation exists on Fletcher Road.

In the 16-foot unpaved rights-of-way, the town has placed water and sewer lines, installed lateral service lines to homes, maintains stormwater drains and wing gutters, posted street-name and other signs, and installed fire hydrants. The town also permits above- and below-ground cable, telephone, and other utilities in the right of way.

The town also allows homeowners to enjoy and use the unpaved area to plant lawns, flower and vegetable gardens, and add landscaping, have moveable basketball hoops, install mailboxes, holiday decorations, and Little Libraries, place lawn bags and tied branches for regular pickups, and leaf piles for vacuuming in the fall, install driveways and park vehicles, have lemonade stands, and other residential uses.

The only requirements are that these activities do not obstruct the paved surface, which is why the highway department asks residents to rake leaves to the edge of, and not onto, the paved surface, and that the town might remove installed items to access water, sewer, and stormwater lines, or otherwise maintain the street.

The letter mistakenly alleges that these common uses of the right-of-way by residents are hateful and retaliatory obstructions of her rights as a pedestrian, and should be removed. The town’s rights-of-way have proven to be more than sufficient for safe and shared use by vehicles, bicyclists, and walkers, along with the placement of public infrastructure and private utilities, and also allow families to fully enjoy and use their front yards.

James P. Melita, Esq.

Town Attorney

Guilderland

See related letter