This week, all of Colonie’s 62 hotels and motels were asked to make a final decision on whether or not to take sex offenders under the town’s new licensing guidelines.
Town Attorney Michael Magguilli said Tuesday, Oct. 27, that all but 16 hotels and motels have responded to a letter from the town asking if they intended to house sex offenders, and of those responses, only two have indicated that they would. The two that plan to continue to taking in sex offenders are the Blue Bell, on Central Avenue, and the Sycamore, on Route 9.
The town passed a law this summer that required those hotels and motels that are planning to take sex offenders to pay a licensing fee and reduce the number of sex offenders residing there based on size and a system that assigns points based on the level of offense.
The fee associated with the license depends on the number of units at the establishment. For an establishment with 50 units or fewer, the licensing fee would be $1,500 per year, and for an establishment with 51 or more units, the fee would be $3,000 per year.
The second part of the law involves limiting the number of sex offenders that can reside at each establishment based on a points system. The sex offenders are given a number of points based on the level of their offenses as assigned by their sentencing judges.
For instance, a Level 1 sex offender would carry with them one point; a Level 2, two points; and a Level 3, three points.
An establishment that has 50 or fewer units would be allowed six points worth of sex offenders. An establishment with 51 units is permitted to have nine points of sex offenders.
Magguilli said both Blue Bell and Sycamore will only be permitted to have six points of sex offenders, and while he thinks sex offenders totaling more than six points currently reside at each of these establishments, any additional sex offenders would need to be evicted 30 days from Oct. 21, when the responses were due by.
Alex Patel owns the Blue Bell, Skylane and Super 8, all of which were sent the notices and asked whether they would be taking sex offenders.
Magguilli said that while the Blue Bell indicated it would be taking sex offenders and Patel has paid the fee, the Skylane has not yet responded to the notice. Those hotels and motels that have not responded are being granted a seven-day extension, Magguilli said, which is being hand-delivered this week by the Colonie Police Department.
Colonie Police Chief Steven Heider said, part of our job will be enforcing this, and that the police department is working closely with the town on this issue.
Patel said that he did not know that he was taking sex offenders at his hotels.
`We have no proof who checked in when they come in,` he said. He said that while sometimes he would look at the sex offender registry, the Web sites are not always up-to-date with this information.
`Somebody checks in, they give their drivers license and we can give them a room,` he said.
Patel said he will not be taking sex offenders at the Super 8 and will be posting a notice indicating that they do not accept sex offenders.
`[It will say,] ‘Make sure if you’re a sex offender, you let us know,’` he said. `Leave our liability out.`
Some hotel owners also argue that they are at times unaware when a sex offender checks in.
John `Jim` Cocca, owner of Cocca’s Inn and Suites, on Route 9 in Latham, said he was unaware that he had two sex offenders staying at his hotel until the Colonie Police Department informed him.
`We really never ever took sex offenders,` he said. `They were here until we found out that they were sex offenders. As soon as we found out, we gave them a week to get out.`
Cocca said his hotel, at the time, had many extended-stay options and that the two sex offenders had taken advantage of that.
`We never took a sex offender knowingly,` he said.
Cocca’s has indicated that it will not be taking sex offenders, so Cocca said the hotel plans to require those guests requesting an extended stay to fill out an application complete with a background check so that the hotel can maintain compliance with the law.
Since the law has been passed, and even in the past 45 days, Colonie police have said the number of sex offenders living in the town has decreased.
Colonie Police Lt. Robert Winn said the number has decreased by 20, leaving 53 sex offenders currently residing in town. It is unknown where the sex offenders are moving to, as Lt. Winn pointed out, several local counties have lifted strict 1,000-foot restrictions that limit how close sex offenders can live to schools, playgrounds and other places well-populated by children.
The success of the town law is still somewhat unknown.
`It’s too early to tell,` said Winn. `The 30-day period for the registration is just ending this week. So we haven’t seen any change this week.`
Magguilli said the fact that most responses from the hotel and motel owners indicated they would not be taking sex offenders is proof that it is working.
`The law is actually working. And so the number of sex offenders in the town should be reduced drastically, particularly in the strip on Central Avenue,` he said.
For more on this story, check back at www.spotlightnews.com, or read the Wednesday, Oct. 28, print edition of the Colonie Spotlight.
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