Bill would limit halfway houses

Kris Hill

Monday, March 19, 2001 | 10:34 a.m.

Assemblyman John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, jumped into the halfway house fray Friday when he introduced a bill that would require residences for recovering alcoholics and addicts to spaced farther apart.

A state statute currently allows counties to pass ordinances that require group homes, a broad category that includes halfway houses, to be 660 feet apart. Oceguera is sponsoring Assembly Bill 395, which would increase that separation to 1,500 feet.

He became concerned about the issue in early January after receiving a barrage of e-mail and letters from residents in his district in southeast Las Vegas, where he sees a particular problem with clustering.

A neighborhood in his district, near Sandhill Road and U.S. 95, has three halfway houses within a half-mile radius.

"I've been following the issue for some time now," Oceguera said.

The bill would not, however, affect existing halfway houses. They would be grandfathered in, Oceguera said.

It would also put the phrase "halfway house" in the statute as a matter of clarification, Oceguera said.

Oceguera's bill in the Assembly follows Senate Bill 319, introduced March 12 by Sens. Bill O'Donnell and Ann O'Connell, both R-Las Vegas, that would require halfway houses to be licensed by the state.

All they currently need is a business license from the county.

Both bills will go to committee for hearings. AB395 heads to Assembly Government Affairs Committee, and SB319 to the Senate Human Resources and Facilities panel.

Dates for those hearings are expected to be set next week.