Longmont council approves first reading of ordinance limiting where some registered sex offenders may live

Longmont — The Longmont City Council on May 6 approved on first reading an amendment to Title 10 of the Longmont Municipal Code that would limit where certain registered sex offenders may live and cap the number of unrelated registrants who may reside together.

The ordinance, as amended by the council, sets a 500-foot setback from schools, day-care centers and private or public parks and would bar people meeting specified registry criteria from establishing residence inside those areas. The draft also would prohibit more than three unrelated registered sex offenders from living at the same address. The ordinance passed its first reading by a 6-1 vote; Councilor Rodriguez cast the lone vote against final passage.

Council members and city staff said the measure is intended to address residents' safety concerns while preserving legal limits on local regulation of registrants. "There are four affected categories of registered sex offenders," Jeremy Turrell, assistant city attorney, told the council, outlining the draft: "sexually violent predators, offenders with multiple victims, offenders with multiple offenses, and offenders with felonies involving minors." He described the ordinance as forward-looking and said people already living inside a setback would be permitted to remain until they move.

Why it matters: supporters of the change said the restrictions respond to neighborhood anxiety after a sober-living residence for people on…