[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City
of Schenectady 8-12-1996 as L.L.
No. 3-1996. Amendments noted where applicable.]
The City hereby declares its intent to be aware
of the special requirements of group homes and of their residents
as they are established and operated within the City limits. The City
finds that such homes may be established according to state law or
de facto by not-for-profit agencies or organizations and further that
the same may be operated by agencies or organizations without other
offices within the City of Schenectady. The City further finds that
there have been occasions when responsible persons are not readily
available for contact with respect to such homes when emergency conditions
prevail within the City near or upon the location of such homes.
As used in this chapter, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A facility of 14 or fewer beds either operated or licensed
by the State Office of Mental Health or the Office of Mental Retardation
and Developmental Disabilities, or any single-family residence occupied
by more than five or more unrelated persons as their normal residence
under the auspices of one or more not-for-profit organizations or
institutions concerned with or primarily interested in the needs of
developmentally disabled persons.
The agency, person, partnership or corporation (whether for
profit or not) which has as one of its principal purposes the establishment,
building, construction, renovation, running, operation or creation
of a group home, either at inception or thereafter.
A.
It shall be the duty of each and every operator of
a group home within the City of Schenectady to annually provide the
following information to the Department of Development which shall
then disseminate the same to the Police Department and the Fire Department
of the City of Schenectady:
(1)
The name, address and telephone number of the agency
or organization sponsoring or operating such home.
(2)
The name of the person or persons in local control
of the home within the City.
(3)
The address and local telephone number of the group
home within the City.
(4)
The number and description of the persons ordinarily
residing in the group home, including any special circumstances or
disabilities of such residents, including specifically any limitations
on their abilities to respond to emergency notification and evacuation
procedures, whether the same be by mental or physical handicap or
limitation. Individual names of disabled persons need not be disclosed.
(5)
A copy of any plan for emergency shelter, evacuation
or rescue that exists with respect to such residents, including the
name, address and telephone number of any parent organization if such
exists.
B.
It shall be the duty of each and every operator of
a group home within the City of Schenectady to annually provide the
following information to the Department of Development of the City
of Schenectady:
(1)
The name and telephone number of the person or persons
locally responsible for the maintenance, upkeep and repair of such
group home structures as may be leased, owned or otherwise occupied
or used as a group home within the City of Schenectady.
(2)
The name, address and telephone number of any parent
organization if such exists.
The Mayor or the City Council of the City of
Schenectady may hold a public hearing on the site selection of any
community residential facility as defined in § 41.34 of
the Mental Hygiene Law whenever the municipality is selected and notified
as required therein.
A.
The operator of a group home shall pay a fee of $50
for the filing of the information required by this chapter to offset
the cost of administration; such fee shall be due upon any initial
filing and annually with the update thereof.
B.
It shall be unlawful to operate a group home within
the City of Schenectady without providing the information as required
by this chapter. Failure of a group home operator to provide such
information shall be a violation and shall render it subject to a
fine of up to $100.
It is the finding of the City that certain group
homes, by their nature as shelters for abused persons, may suffer
if their location is made known at large. A group home operator may
therefore request nondisclosure of locational information to the public
and personnel not within the law or public safety departments, and
such a request may, at the discretion of the Mayor, be granted. In
the event that the Mayor grants such a request, any locational information
shall be redacted before provision of such information to other than
the departments of public safety or law.
