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2,500 feet from schools

That may be the new restriction for sex offenders in Tampa.

By JANET ZINK
Published November 3, 2006

TAMPA - City officials want to set more limits on where sexual offenders and predators can live in Tampa.

Under state law, people convicted of committing certain sex crimes on children younger than 16 can't live within 1,000 feet of any school, day care center, park or playground.

The Tampa City Council voted unanimously Thursday to consider expanding that distance to 2,500 feet.

Council member Shawn Harrison brought up the idea after residents in Arbor Greene complained that Michael Jones, a 21-year-old man convicted of raping a 6-year-old girl in Alabama, moved into a home less than half a mile from two schools.

Harrison suggested modeling the Tampa ordinance after one enacted in Gainesville in 2005.

"Gainesville is hardly a bastion of conservative politics, and they have an ordinance that is much, much more stringent than state law," Harrison said.

He said he also likes that Gainesville's ordinance prohibits property owners from renting to some sexual offenders and predators, and requires sex offenders to acknowledge that they know about the restrictions.

Council member John Dingfelder said he supported Harrison's suggestion, but he proposed involving the Corrections Department and others in crafting the ordinance.

After the meeting, Dingfelder said those agencies may have some thoughts about the impact of a more restrictive ordinance.

"We might be telling people they can't live anywhere in this city," Dingfelder said. "We have to balance the concerns of protecting our children with the constitutional rights that everyone has, including sexual predators."

In the years since the Legislature passed the residency restrictions, many cities have passed even more restrictive laws.

"It is becoming increasingly difficult to find residences for sex offenders," said Gretl Plessinger a spokeswoman for the Corrections Department.

City attorneys say they hope to have a draft of an ordinance to the council in the next 60 days. It would require two public hearings and approval by the City Council and Mayor Pam Iorio.

[Last modified November 3, 2006, 06:01:46]