§ 171 — Consent of property owners and local authorities

§ 171. Consent of property owners and local authorities. A street\nsurface railroad, or extensions or branches thereof, shall not be built,\nextended or operated unless the consent in writing acknowledged or\nproved as are deeds entitled to be recorded, of the owners in cities and\nvillages of one-half in value, and in towns, not within the corporate\nlimits of a city or village, of the owners of two-thirds in value, of\nthe property bounded on and also the consent of the local authorities\nhaving control of that portion of a street or highway upon which it is\nproposed to build or operate such railroad, extension or branch shall\nhave been first obtained. Such consents of property owners in the county\nof Kings which shall be hereafter executed, may be forfeited unless\nwithin sixty days after the execution thereof, the same shall be\nrecorded in the office of the register of such county. Such register is\nhereby directed upon the payment of the proper fees to record all\nconsents left with him for that purpose in books to be provided by him\nand paid for out of the funds provided to meet the expenses of said\noffice. Such books shall be indexed according to the names of the\nconsenting property owners and also according to the names of the\nstreets, roads or other highways upon which the property to which the\nconsent relates shall be bounded. In case the recording of such consents\nshall be hindered, delayed or prevented by legal proceedings in any\ncourt or from any other or different cause not within the control of the\ncorporation upon which such requirement is imposed, the time for the\nperformance of such act is hereby and shall be deemed to be extended for\nthe period covered by such hindrance, delay or prevention. The consents\nof property owners in one city, village or town, or in any other civil\ndivision of the state, shall not be of any effect in any other city,\nvillage or town or other civil divisions of the state. Consents of\nproperty owners heretofore obtained to the building, extending,\noperating or change of motive power shall be effectual for the purposes\nherein mentioned and may be deemed to be sufficiently proved and shall\nbe entitled to be recorded, wherever such consents shall have been\nsigned, executed or acknowledged before an officer authorized by law to\ntake acknowledgments of deeds, or before or in the presence of a\nsubscribing witness, and without regard to whether or not the\nsubscribing witness shall have affixed his signature in the presence of\nthe subscriber, provided that the proof of such signing, execution or\nacknowledgment shall have been made by such subscribing witness in the\nmanner prescribed by section three hundred and four of the real property\nlaw. In cities the common council, acting subject to the power now\npossessed by the mayor to veto ordinances; in villages the board of\ntrustees; and in towns the superintendent of highways and the town board\nshall be the local authorities referred to, except that in villages\nwhere the control of the streets is vested in any other board or\nauthorities, such other board or authorities shall be the local\nauthorities referred to, and the consent of such other board or\nauthorities hereafter or heretofore obtained shall be sufficient; if in\nany city or county the exclusive control of any street, avenue or other\nproperty which is to be used or occupied by any such railroad, extension\nor branch, is vested in any other authority, the consent of such\nauthority shall also be first obtained. The value of the property above\nspecified shall be ascertained and determined by the assessment-roll of\nthe city, village or town in which it is situated, completed last before\nthe local authorities shall have given their consent, except property\nowned by such city, village or town, or by the state of New York, or the\nUnited States of America, the value of which shall be ascertained and\ndetermined by making the value thereof to be the same as is shown by\nsuch assessment-roll to be the value of the equivalent in size and\nfrontage of the adjacent property on the same street or highway; and the\nconsent of the local authorities shall operate as consent of such city,\nvillage or town as the owners of such property. Whenever heretofore or\nhereafter a railroad has been or shall be constructed and put in\noperation for one year or the motive power thereof has been or shall be\nchanged and put in operation for a similar length of time, such facts\nshall be presumptive evidence that the requisite consents of local\nauthorities, property owners and other authority to the construction,\nmaintenance and operation of such railroad or change of motive power\nhave been duly obtained. No consent of local authorities given prior to\nMay second, nineteen hundred and one, shall be deemed invalid because of\nany portion of the road or route consented to not being connected with\nan existing road or route of the corporation obtaining or acquiring such\nconsent and all statements of extension filed under section one hundred\nand seventy of this article in reference to the route or part thereof\ndescribed in any consent of local authorities are hereby ratified and\nconfirmed, whether the same were filed before or after the obtaining or\nacquiring of such consents, provided, however, that nothing herein\ncontained shall be construed to affect any portion of a street surface\nrailroad which is now in or upon any portion of a street which is under\nthe jurisdiction of a park department in any city containing a\npopulation of over twelve hundred thousand inhabitants.\n