STAND. COM. REP. NO.544
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2003
RE: S.B. No. 473
S.D. 1
Honorable Robert Bunda
President of the Senate
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2003
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Human Services, to which were referred S.B. No. 473 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO HALFWAY HOUSES,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to require informational meetings as part of the county zoning permit process for group living facilities that house people released from a correctional facility or an institution for mental health treatment, or are receiving substance abuse or sex offender treatment.
Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Department of Public Safety and the Community Alliance on Prisons. Testimony in opposition to this measure was submitted by the Hawaii Youth Services Network.
Your Committees find that the community should be involved in the planning and decision to locate a halfway house in their neighborhood. Halfway houses provide a structured, supervised environment for individuals who are making the transition from an institutionalized setting to living in the community. Your Committees find that the most successful halfway houses are those that develop a positive relationship with their neighbors.
The Hawaii Youth Services Network (HYSN) expressed concerns about this measure, specifically:
(1) This measure may duplicate existing county zoning ordinances. Current Honolulu zoning ordinances require a permit for group living facilities housing more than a specified number of residents. Larger programs must make a presentation to the Neighborhood Board in order to obtain a conditional use permit for a group living facility. HYSN notes that if the group living facility does not require a conditional use permit to operate, then there should be no need for a public informational meeting. Thus, according to HYSN, this legislation is duplicative and unnecessary.
(2) This measure may violate the federal Fair Housing Act, by requiring social service organizations serving persons with disabilities to seek usage permits not required for similar groups of unrelated persons without disabilities. According to HYSN, subjecting persons with physical or mental disabilities to special requirements for their living arrangements based on public perception may be unlawful discrimination.
Your Committees believe that the discussion on the legal ramifications of this measure should properly be continued by the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs. Your Committees have made technical, nonsubstantive amendments to this measure for the purposes of clarity and consistency.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Human Services that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 473, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 473, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation, Military Affairs, and Government Operations and Human Services,
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____________________________ SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair |
____________________________ CAL KAWAMOTO, Chair |
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