Can a New York town set a 15 mph speed limit on private roads inside a mobile home park, and enforce it with town police?

Plain-English summary

The Town of Hamburg asked whether it could set a 15 mph speed limit on the private roads inside a mobile home park, and whether town police could enforce it.

The AG split the answer.

The Vehicle and Traffic Law is the State's framework for traffic regulation. § 1604 preempts local regulation of motor vehicle traffic on public highways. The State doesn't, in the same statute, broadly cover private property. § 1600 prevents local authorities from enacting traffic ordinances that conflict with the Vehicle and Traffic Law unless specifically authorized.

The distinction between "highway" (publicly maintained, with at least part open to public vehicular travel, § 118) and "private road" (privately owned, used by the owner and those with permission, § 133) is the gateway question.

Two specific statutes authorize town speed-limit regulation:

Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1662-a: Permits certain towns to regulate speed limits on highways, including private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic. Towns can set throughout-town limits of not less than 30 mph, or designated-highway limits of not less than 25 mph (including private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic). So if the mobile-home-park roads are "open to public motor vehicle traffic," the town can set a 25 mph limit. The "25 mph" floor is the bottom of the range, so a town cannot go below 25 mph under § 1662-a.

Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660-a(2-a): Lists specific categories of private property where towns can enact a speed limit of not less than 15 mph upon the request of the property's owner or person in charge. The categories: parking areas and driveways of hospitals, office buildings, places of public assembly; parking areas of shopping centers; parking areas and driveways of not-for-profit facilities; parking areas and private streets of private apartment house complexes; parking areas and driveways of fire stations; private condominium complexes; parking areas, private streets, roadways or driveways of industrial parks. Mobile home parks are not on the list. So § 1660-a cannot be used to authorize a 15 mph limit in a mobile home park.

Combining the two: the opinion says Hamburg may set a speed limit of not less than 25 mph on the park's private roads if they are open to public motor vehicle traffic. It says § 1660-a does not authorize a 15 mph limit in this mobile home park.

The Hamburg Police Department may enforce the reduced limit if the town board provides for enforcement in the local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation, as the opinion explains under Town Law §§ 39 and 130.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1998. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Common questions

Can Hamburg set a 15 mph limit in the mobile home park?

No. The opinion says § 1662-a does not permit a limit below 25 mph on these roads, and § 1660-a does not authorize traffic regulation within mobile home parks.

When may Hamburg set a 25 mph limit?

If the park's private roads are open to public motor vehicle traffic, the town may establish a speed limit of not less than 25 mph under § 1662-a. The opinion does not decide whether the roads in this park met that factual condition.

Does § 1660-a's private apartment house category cover this park?

The opinion says § 1660-a "does not authorize the regulation of traffic within mobile home parks" and that Hamburg must rely on § 1662-a for this park. It does not suggest a different classification for the park.

Can town police enforce a valid reduced limit?

Yes, if the town board provides for police enforcement in the local law, ordinance, order, rule, or regulation establishing the limit. Enforcement does not follow automatically from setting the speed limit.

Background and statutory framework

The Vehicle and Traffic Law's structure has two layers:

Layer one: State law preempts local traffic regulation on public highways (§ 1604, People v Grant) and constrains local authorities (§ 1600).

Layer two: Specific authorizations open up local authority for particular settings. § 1660-a is the 15-mph-on-specific-private-property authority. § 1662-a is the broader town speed-regulation authority including private roads open to public traffic at 25 mph or above.

The two definitions in § 118 (highway) and § 133 (private road) draw the line between the two layers.

Town Law § 39 covers police department authorization for towns. § 130 covers the town board's general power to enact local laws.

People v Grant, 306 NY 258 (1954), is the foundational case for State preemption of motor vehicle regulation. The case has been cited many times for the proposition that local traffic regulation requires specific State statutory authorization.

Citations

• Town Law § 39 (town board authority over police department).
• Town Law § 130 (town board general legislative authority).
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 118 (definition of "highway").
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 133 (definition of "private road").
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1600 (local authority over traffic, subject to State preemption).
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1604 (preemption of local regulation of motor vehicle traffic on public highways).
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660-a (limited town authority for specific private property categories at 15 mph minimum).
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660-a(2-a) (15 mph minimum for listed categories).
• Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1662-a (town speed limits on highways, including private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic, at 25 mph minimum).
• People v Grant, 306 NY 258 (1954) (foundational case on State preemption of motor vehicle regulation).

Source

• Landing page: https://ag.ny.gov/libraries-documents/opinions/opinions-year
• Original PDF: https://ag.ny.gov/sites/default/files/opinions/I_98-25_pw.pdf

Original opinion text

TOWN LAW §§ 39, 130; VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC LAW §§ 133, 118, 1600, 1604, 1660-a, 1662-a. The provisions of the Vehicle and Traffic Law do not give a town authority to enact a local law establishing a fifteen mile per hour speed limit within a mobile home park. However, if the private roads within the mobile home park are open to public motor vehicle traffic, the town may establish and enforce a speed limit of not less than twenty-five miles per hour within the mobile home park. June 24, 1998

Vincent J. Sorrentino, Esq.
Town Attorney
Town of Hamburg
S-6100 South Park Avenue
Hamburg, NY 14075

Informal Opinion
No. 98-25

Dear Mr. Sorrentino:
You have requested an opinion regarding whether the Town of Hamburg may enact a local law reducing the speed limit in a mobile home park to fifteen miles per hour and, if so, whether the Town of Hamburg Police Department may enforce that speed limit. In a telephone conversation, you informed us that the roads within the mobile home park are privately owned. The regulation and use of public highways by motor vehicles is an area that has long been preempted by the State. Vehicle and Traffic Law §§ 1600, 1604; People v Grant, 306 NY 258 (1954). Section 1604, which preempts the regulation of motor vehicle traffic on public highways, does not refer to the regulation of traffic on private property. Section 1600 does, however, prohibit local authorities from enacting, without specific authorization, ordinances or other local laws that are in conflict with any of the provisions of the Vehicle and Traffic Law. Vehicle and Traffic Law § 118 defines a highway as "[t]he entire width between the boundary lines of every way publicly maintained when any part thereof is open to the use of the public for purposes of vehicular travel." In contrast, a private road is defined as "[e]very way or place in private ownership and used for vehicular travel by the owner and those having express or implied permission from the owner, but not by other persons." Vehicle and Traffic Law § 133.

2
Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1662-a permits certain towns to regulate speed limits on highways including, for purposes of this section, private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic. Pursuant to section 1662-a, towns may enact local laws, ordinances, orders, rules or regulations establishing speed limits of not less than thirty miles per hour throughout such towns or within designated areas of such towns and speed limits of not less than twenty-five miles per hour along designated highways within such towns, including private roads open to public motor vehicle traffic. Therefore, under Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1662-a, if the private roads within the mobile home park in issue are open to public motor vehicle traffic, the Town of Hamburg may enact a local law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation establishing a speed limit of not less than twenty-five miles per hour within the mobile home park. Additionally, the Town of Hamburg Police Department may enforce this reduced speed limit if the town board provides for such enforcement in the local law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation. Town Law §§ 39, 130. We note that Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660-a provides a second limited source of authority for towns to regulate traffic on specific private property, but it does not authorize the regulation of traffic within mobile home parks. Section 1660-a (2-a) provides, in pertinent part, as follows: The town board of any town, with respect to the parking areas and driveways of a hospital, office building or office building complex or place of public assembly, or parking areas of a shopping center or the parking areas and driveways of facilities owned or leased by a not-for-profit corporation or the parking area and private streets or roadways of a private apartment house complex, or the parking areas and driveways of a fire station, or private condominium complex, or the parking areas, private streets, roadways or driveways of an industrial park or industrial complex, and pursuant to the written request of either the owner or the person in general charge of the operation and control of such area . . . may, by local law or ordinance:
.

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.

3
2-a. Notwithstanding the
provisions of section sixteen
hundred sixty-two-a to the
contrary, establish maximum speed
limits in any such area at not less
than fifteen miles per hour.
It appears from the list contained in Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660-a that the legislature only intended to permit local regulation of traffic for limited and specific categories of private properties. Mobile home parks are not included in section 1660-a. Therefore, Vehicle and Traffic Law § 1660-a does not provide the Town of Hamburg with the authority to establish a speed limit within the mobile home park at issue. The Town must rely on section 1662-a as its source of authority for establishing a speed limit. We conclude that Vehicle and Traffic Law section 1662-a does not provide the Town of Hamburg with the authority to enact a local law establishing a fifteen mile per hour speed limit within the mobile home park in issue. However, if the private roads within the mobile home park are open to public motor vehicle traffic, section 1662-a authorizes the Town of Hamburg to enact a local law, ordinance, order, rule or regulation establishing a speed limit of not less than twenty-five miles per hour within the mobile home park. The Town Board may authorize the Police Department to enforce this speed limit. The Attorney General renders formal opinions only to officers and departments of State government. This perforce is an informal and unofficial expression of the views of this office. Very truly yours,

YVONNE M. HOVE
Assistant Attorney General