S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                  1004

                       2009-2010 Regular Sessions

                            I N  S E N A T E

                            January 22, 2009
                               ___________

Introduced  by  Sen.  KRUGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
  printed to be committed to the Committee on Social Services

AN ACT to amend the social services law, in relation  to  providing  for
  the  regulation,  supervision and inspection of "motels" for-profit in
  cities of one million or  more  persons  which  provide  temporary  or
  permanent  places  for  homeless  persons  and receive state financial
  assistance

  THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  Section  1.  Legislative  findings and purposes. The legislature finds
that financial incentives provided by state programs designed to encour-
age construction and maintenance of temporary and permanent housing  for
homeless  persons,  and  financial  assistance provided to such persons,
have had the unintended effect, in certain cities of  large  population,
of  stimulating the construction of unregulated motels for-profit, which
have arisen willy-nilly, even next to garbage dumps, to  take  advantage
of such incentives. Not only are these motels getting the homeless in at
full  rates,  courtesy of the taxpayers, but they are providing insuffi-
cient care and facilities for the population they are intended to  shel-
ter or serve.
  The  purpose  of this act is to regulate such motels by including them
within the definition of "adult care facility", thereby subjecting  them
to  the provisions of article 7 of the social services law, allowing the
commissioner of the office of temporary  and  disability  assistance  to
classify them and provide for inspection and supervision of their opera-
tion.  With respect to the construction and location of these for-profit
"motels", the purpose of this act is to subject such places to land  use
review  procedures  which,  for  site  selection, require input from the
community in which the "motel" is to be located.

 EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                      [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                           LBD06664-01-9

S. 1004                             2
              

  S 2. Subdivision 21 of section  2  of  the  social  services  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  558  of  the  laws  of 1999, is amended to read as
follows:
  21.  Adult  care  facility shall mean a family type home for adults, a
shelter for adults, a residence for adults, an enriched housing  program
[or],  an  adult  home  OR  A MOTEL FOR HOMELESS PERSONS, which provides
temporary or long-term residential care and  services,  OR  SHELTER,  to
adults  who,  though  not requiring continual medical or nursing care as
provided by facilities licensed pursuant to article twenty-eight of  the
public  health  law or articles nineteen, [twenty-three,] thirty-one and
thirty-two of the mental hygiene law, are by reason of physical or other
limitations associated with age,  physical  or  mental  disabilities  or
other  factors, unable or substantially unable to live independently. In
addition, a residence for adults, enriched housing program or  an  adult
home  may  provide  services  to  non-residents  in  accordance with the
provisions of section four hundred sixty-one-k of this chapter.
  S 3. Subdivision 21 of section  2  of  the  social  services  law,  as
amended  by  chapter  626  of  the  laws  of 1984, is amended to read as
follows:
  21. Adult care facility shall mean a family type home  for  adults,  a
shelter  for adults, a residence for adults, an enriched housing program
[or], an adult home OR A MOTEL  FOR  HOMELESS  PERSONS,  which  provides
temporary  or  long-term  residential  care and services, OR SHELTER, to
adults who, though not requiring continual medical or  nursing  care  as
provided  by facilities licensed pursuant to article twenty-eight of the
public health law or articles nineteen[, twenty-three] and thirty-one of
the mental hygiene law, are by reason of physical or  other  limitations
associated  with  age, physical or mental disabilities or other factors,
unable or substantially unable to live independently.
  S 4. Section 2 of the social services law is amended by adding  a  new
subdivision 38 to read as follows:
  38.  "MOTEL  FOR  HOMELESS  PERSONS" SHALL MEAN A FOR-PROFIT BUSINESS,
HOWEVER ORGANIZED, WHICH OWNS, LEASES OR OPERATES, OR WHICH PURCHASES OR
LEASES LAND FOR THE PURPOSE OF CONSTRUCTING,  A  BUILDING  OR  BUILDINGS
UPON  THE  SAME LOT OF LAND FOR THE PURPOSES OF LODGING OF GUESTS AND OF
PROVIDING, OR WHICH BUILDING OR BUILDINGS PROVIDE, TEMPORARY  OR  PERMA-
NENT  SHELTER  TO  FIVE OR MORE HOMELESS ADULTS WHO ARE UNRELATED TO THE
OPERATOR THEREOF.
  S 5. The social services law is amended by adding a new section  461-s
to read as follows:
  S  461-S. REGULATION AND SUPERVISION OF MOTELS FOR HOMELESS PERSONS IN
CITIES OF ONE MILLION OR MORE PERSONS. 1. THE COMMISSIONER OF THE OFFICE
OF TEMPORARY AND  DISABILITY  ASSISTANCE  SHALL  PROMULGATE  REGULATIONS
WHICH  PROVIDE  FOR THE REGULATION, INSPECTION AND SUPERVISION OF MOTELS
FOR HOMELESS PERSONS WHICH RECEIVE PAYMENTS, LOANS OR ASSISTANCE, OR THE
LODGERS IN WHICH ARE FIVE OR MORE HOMELESS PERSONS WHO RECEIVE  PAYMENTS
FOR  RENT  OR  SHELTER,  FROM  ANY  STATE  OR CITY DEPARTMENT, AGENCY OR
PROGRAM, AND WHICH ARE LOCATED IN CITIES OF ONE MILLION OR MORE PERSONS,
UNDER THE PROVISIONS OF THIS ARTICLE AND TITLE.  SUCH  REGULATIONS  ALSO
SHALL  REQUIRE  THAT  THE OWNER, LESSEE OR OPERATOR OF ANY SUCH FACILITY
PROVIDE AN APPROPRIATE AND ADEQUATE LEVEL OF SERVICES  TO  THE  HOMELESS
PERSONS  SHELTERED  THEREIN,  AS  DETERMINED BY SUCH COMMISSIONER, WHICH
SHALL APPROPRIATELY DIFFER FROM THOSE  SERVICES,  IF  ANY,  PROVIDED  TO
ORDINARY LODGERS AT THE MOTEL, AND WHICH, IN ADDITION, SHALL ENSURE THAT
THE  LODGING  PROVIDED IS HABITABLE FOR THE REGULAR AND SPECIAL NEEDS OF
HOMELESS PERSONS.

S. 1004                             3

  2. SITE SELECTION FOR THE LOCATION OF MOTELS FOR HOMELESS PERSONS,  AS
WELL  AS  APPROVAL OF THE LOCATION OF AN EXISTING STRUCTURE WHICH HAS OR
WILL BECOME A MOTEL FOR HOMELESS PERSONS SUBJECT TO REGULATION UNDER THE
TERMS OF SUBDIVISION ONE OR THREE OF THIS SECTION, SHALL BE  SUBJECT  TO
ANY UNIFORM LAND USE REVIEW PROCEDURE ADOPTED BY ANY SUCH CITY AND WHICH
OTHERWISE IS APPLICABLE TO HOUSING AND URBAN RENEWAL PLANS AND PROJECTS,
PROVIDED  THAT  SUCH  UNIFORM LAND USE REVIEW PROCEDURE CONTAINS A MECH-
ANISM FOR REVIEW BY REPRESENTATIVES OF THE COMMUNITY DISTRICT  IN  WHICH
THE MOTEL FOR HOMELESS PERSONS IS, OR IS TO BE, LOCATED.
  3.  NO PROVISION OF THIS SECTION SHALL BE CONSTRUED TO PRECLUDE, LIMIT
OR REGULATE THE OWNERSHIP, LEASING OR OPERATION OF  ANY  MOTEL  BUSINESS
WHICH  DOES NOT AND WILL NOT IN THE FUTURE PROVIDE LODGING OR SHELTER ON
A TEMPORARY OR PERMANENT BASIS TO FIVE OR MORE HOMELESS ADULTS  WHO  ARE
UNRELATED  TO  THE OPERATOR THEREOF; OR WHICH DOES NOT RECEIVE PAYMENTS,
LOANS OR ASSISTANCE, AND IN WHICH FIVE OR MORE LODGERS WHO ARE  HOMELESS
PERSONS  DO  NOT RECEIVE PAYMENTS FOR RENT OR SHELTER, FROM ANY STATE OR
CITY DEPARTMENT, AGENCY OR PROGRAM. ANY MOTEL BUSINESS  NOT  SUBJECT  TO
REGULATION  BY  THIS  SECTION  SHALL  IMMEDIATELY BECOME SUBJECT TO SUCH
REGULATION PURSUANT TO THE TERMS SPECIFIED HEREINABOVE UPON BECOMING, OR
DECLARING IN WRITING ITS INTENTION TO THE COMMISSIONER OF THE OFFICE  OF
TEMPORARY  AND  DISABILITY  ASSISTANCE TO BECOME,   A MOTEL FOR HOMELESS
PERSONS TO WHICH THIS SECTION  APPLIES.  ANY  MOTEL  BUSINESS  WHICH  IS
SUBJECT  TO  REGULATION  PURSUANT  TO THE TERMS OF THIS SECTION SHALL NO
LONGER BE SUBJECT TO SUCH REGULATION ONE YEAR AFTER SUCH BUSINESS CEASES
TO BE A MOTEL FOR HOMELESS PERSONS  FOR  WHICH  REGULATION  IS  REQUIRED
UNDER  THIS SECTION AND ONE YEAR AFTER IT DECLARES IN WRITING ITS INTEN-
TION TO THE COMMISSIONER, WHICH IS HEREBY REQUIRED IN SUCH CASE, THAT IT
WILL NOT IN THE FUTURE PROVIDE LODGING OR SHELTER TO FIVE OR MORE  HOME-
LESS  ADULTS UNDER THE CONDITIONS SPECIFIED HEREINABOVE, WHICHEVER EVENT
TAKES PLACE LAST.
  S 6. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after
it shall have become a law and shall apply  by  its  terms  to  existing
motels,  to  motels  under construction and to motels to be constructed;
provided however, that effective immediately,  the  addition,  amendment
and/or  repeal of any rules or regulations necessary for the implementa-
tion of the foregoing sections of this act on such  effective  date  are
authorized  and  directed  to  be  made  and completed on or before such
effective date; and provided further, however,  that  the  amendment  to
subdivision  21  of section 2 of the social services law made by section
two of this act shall be subject to the expiration and reversion of such
subdivision pursuant to section 4 of chapter 779 of the laws of 1986, as
amended, when upon such date the provisions of section three of this act
shall take effect.