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Longmont council adopts residency restrictions for registered offenders, sets 500-foot buffers
Summary
The Longmont City Council adopted an ordinance that restricts where certain registered offenders may live, creating 500-foot buffers around parks, schools and day cares and imposing limits on household occupancy.
The Longmont City Council on Tuesday adopted an ordinance that restricts residency for certain registered *** offenders and creates 500-foot buffers around schools, day-care centers and private and public parks.
Council members said the measure is a forward-looking policy intended to limit placement of people convicted of qualifying offenses in close proximity to places children frequent. The ordinance passed on second reading as Ordinance 2025-33 with a unanimous vote.
The council's action follows months of neighborhood complaints after a group home for people on the state registry opened in Prairie Village. Residents and activists who addressed the council said the house was placed without adequate notice and asked the city to act. “That safety was stolen the day these predators moved in,” resident Chuck Douglas told council during public comment. “I urge this council to take immediate action.”
Supporters of the residents at the house, including service providers and program staff, urged alternatives to blanket bans and described monitoring and treatment practices they said reduce risk. “Most apartment complexes, condominiums, and suburbs with an HOA do not accept those who have a criminal record to live there, period,” therapist Julia Munster said, arguing that supervised shared housing can provide oversight and reduce homelessness.
The ordinance includes a grandfathering provision for registered residents who established a permanent or temporary residence before the law’s effective date, but it removes that exception if the resident is later convicted of an offense requiring registration. City attorneys told council the ordinance is intended to be forward-looking and does not apply retroactively to prior convictions unless a new qualifying conviction occurs after the ordinance takes effect.
Mayor Joan Peck and council members said they view the ordinance as a first step and asked staff for follow-up monitoring. Councilor Robert Popkin asked staff to report back with data on any impacts to unhoused residents and shelter use; police officials said the department can track registry addresses and that the number of registry-subject residents without fixed residences currently fluctuates around 41.
Council members and staff said the city will continue outreach and monitoring and could revisit rules as data accumulate. Several residents said they would continue to press for enforcement of zoning and business rules if group-home operators were not complying.
The ordinance drew sharply divided public comment and sustained interest from residents of Prairie Village and elsewhere. Council members said the measure aims to balance community safety and legal constraints and that it can be amended in future if data show unintended consequences.
