Following the influx of multiple sex offenders to a motel in New Paltz, the Town of New Paltz passed a law that would limit the number of sex offenders allowed to live in one building.
Seven registered sex offenders moved into the Econo Lodge Motel in New Paltz between Oct. 10 and Nov. 2. Following the publication of an article notifying students of this, one more level three sex offender moved into the motel on Nov. 12, increasing the count to eight registered sex offenders: seven level threes and one level two.
There was such a large influx of sex offenders to New Paltz [Pop. 14,000] because no properties in the area were accepting level three offenders until the Econo Lodge stepped forward.
In response to community backlash following the news of even more offenders moving into town, the Town of New Paltz held a public hearing on Nov. 12. In the same meeting, Local Law was unanimously passed to add Chapter 92 “Hotels and Motels” to the Town of New Paltz Code.
Chapter 92 requires that any hotel or motel looking to provide accommodation to a registered sex offender must first obtain a license from the Town. In the application for a license, “the name of the person convicted, the date thereof, the nature of the crime, [and] the court in which the conviction was entered and the punishment imposed,” need to be recorded.
“Right now New Paltz just seems like we’re the path of least resistance and what we’re trying to do is provide a level of resistance here, and force the state to come up with a better plan instead of just dumping everyone here in New Paltz,” said Town Supervisor Neil Bettez during the Nov. 12 public hearing.
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According to the recently passed Chapter 92, a licence would not be given for anyone with a felony or Class A misdemeanor in certain articles of the New York State Penal Law, which include Article 130: Sex Offenses.
To help limit the number of sex offenders in one building, Chapter 92 also includes a point system to determine how many sex offenders, and what level of sex offenders, can live together in one building.
A level one sex offender is assigned one “occupancy point,” a level two is assigned two points and a level three is assigned three points. Hotels and motels “with 50 or fewer units are granted a total of six occupancy points,”…
There are no residency restrictions in NY, correct? What am I missing.
Sue the bastards. No way this is constitutional. Amounts to banishment.
Do you all smell something? Pure banishment and of course it’s not punishment.
Again I’ll ask…
From where does a jurisdiction get the authority to determine or restrict who may or may not be a resident of that jurisdiction?
And even if there is a place they draw this authority, this appears to violate the equal protection clause, as I don’t know of any other type of conviction which results in such banishment.
The earliest proponents of the registry used to claim that everyone was safer by simply knowing where those convicted of sex crimes resided. Well, now they know. So they should be safer, right? If they bought into that so-called logic back then, shouldn’t it follow that they are now endangering themselves by forced evictions without knowledge or concern of where those registrants reside next?
As if there is critical mass of people forced to register that causes some reaction such as a mushroom cloud or maybe nefarious activities to happen. This is just lack of common sense here in NY, but then again, it is NY and probably will hurt the motel just as much as it does the people.
When it comes to the registry facts don’t matter, emotions do and anything to stir the pot. I feel like I keep watching Fatal Attraction’s scene, “I can’t be ignored Dan.” Well government stop ignoring us you created this mess based on lies and you eventually will have to pay!!
People v. Diack 2015 – State Law preempts local law. There can be no local laws regarding registrants in NY!
Well here is a motel owner saying Damn there go’s my best renters ! notice no mention of them causing a problem , this is just a bunch of crony’s trying to look tough playing the high road most of us have been smelling for years , when the fact is they are just simple cowards trying to kick people when they are down and the deck stacked , these peoples rights need to be fully restored and put an end to this punishment regardless of the number they have assigned anyone , numbers are for prison , not for free people . take those control freaks off the Christmas card list , and place them on the lawsuit list of course . this is in your face punishment applied to these real people by narcissistic power freaks