Bill Text: NY A05741 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Provides that a sponsoring agency shall give notice to persons owning property within 500 feet of a proposed site of a community residential facility and requires hearings to include evaluation of alternative sites; gives the municipality additional time to respond; gives municipality sixty rather than forty days after such notice to approve or object to the proposed site.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 5-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-03-03 - held for consideration in mental health [A05741 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A05741-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 5741 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY February 14, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. MIKULIN -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Mental Health AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to procedures in selection of sites for community residential facilities The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Paragraph 1 of subdivision (c) of section 41.34 of the 2 mental hygiene law, as amended by chapter 1024 of the laws of 1981 and 3 subparagraph (C) as amended by chapter 823 of the laws of 1992, is 4 amended to read as follows: 5 (1) When a site has been selected by the sponsoring agency, it shall 6 notify all persons owning property within five hundred feet of the 7 proposed site and the chief executive officer of the municipality in 8 writing [and include in such notice]. Such notice shall include the 9 specific address of the site, the type of community residence, the 10 number of residents and the community support requirements of the 11 program. [Such notice] The notice given to the municipality shall also 12 contain the most recently published data compiled pursuant to section 13 [four hundred sixty-three] four hundred sixty-three-a of the social 14 services law which can reasonably be expected to permit the municipality 15 to evaluate all such facilities affecting the nature and character of 16 the area wherein such proposed facility is to be located. The munici- 17 pality shall have [forty] sixty days after the receipt of such notice 18 to: 19 (A) approve the site recommended by the sponsoring agency; 20 (B) suggest one or more suitable sites within its jurisdiction which 21 could accommodate such a facility; or 22 (C) object to the establishment of a facility of the kind described by 23 the sponsoring agency because to do so would result in such a concen- 24 tration of community residential facilities for the mentally disabled in 25 the municipality or in the area in proximity to the site selected or a EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD02898-01-9A. 5741 2 1 combination of such facilities with other community residences or simi- 2 lar facilities licensed by other agencies of state government, including 3 all community residences, intermediate care facilities, residential care 4 facilities for adults and residential treatment facilities for individ- 5 uals with mental illness or developmental disabilities operated pursuant 6 to article sixteen or article thirty-one of this chapter and all similar 7 residential facilities of fourteen or less residents operated or 8 licensed by another state agency, that the nature and character of the 9 areas within the municipality would be substantially altered. 10 Such response shall be forwarded to the sponsoring agency and the 11 commissioner. If the municipality does not respond within [forty] sixty 12 days, the sponsoring agency may establish a community residence at a 13 site recommended in its notice. 14 § 2. Paragraph 5 of subdivision (c) of section 41.34 of the mental 15 hygiene law, as amended by chapter 37 of the laws of 2011, is amended to 16 read as follows: 17 (5) In the event the municipality objects to establishment of a facil- 18 ity in the municipality because to do so would result in such a concen- 19 tration of community residential facilities for persons with mental 20 disabilities or combination of such facilities and other facilities 21 licensed by other state agencies that the nature and character of areas 22 within the municipality would be substantially altered; or the sponsor- 23 ing agency objects to the establishment of a facility in the area or 24 areas suggested by the municipality; or in the event that the munici- 25 pality and sponsoring agency cannot agree upon a site, either the spon- 26 soring agency or the municipality may request an immediate hearing 27 before the commissioner to resolve the issue. The commissioner shall 28 personally or by a hearing officer conduct such a hearing within fifteen 29 days of such a request. Each hearing shall include an evaluation of and 30 recommendations regarding each alternative site suggested by the spon- 31 soring agency or municipality. 32 In reviewing any such objections, the need for such facilities in the 33 municipality shall be considered as shall the existing concentration of 34 such facilities and other similar facilities licensed by other state 35 agencies in the municipality or in the area in proximity to the site 36 selected and any other facilities in the municipality or in the area in 37 proximity to the site selected providing residential services to a 38 significant number of persons who have formerly received in-patient 39 mental health services in facilities of the office of mental health or 40 the office for people with developmental disabilities. The commissioner 41 shall sustain the objection if he determines that the nature and charac- 42 ter of the area in which the facility is to be based would be substan- 43 tially altered as a result of establishment of the facility. The commis- 44 sioner shall make a determination within thirty days of the hearing. 45 § 3. This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall 46 have become a law.
