Grapevine Has Effectively Banned Child Molesters
For a portrait of the Kafkaesque nightmare criminal residency restrictions can create, go read about the permanent sex offender camp that took root several years ago beneath Miami's Julia Tuttle Causeway. Thanks to a local ordinance barring them from living within 2,500 feet of any place that children congregate, there was quite literally nowhere else for them to go.
It stands as an object lesson in how not to do public policy. It's a lesson that Grapevine has yet to learn.
Last week the Grapevine City Council, citing a "frightening and high" risk of recidivism, unanimously passed an ordinance barring those convicted of sexually assaulting a child from living within 2,000 feet of places where kids "commonly gather." This includes, but is not limited to, schools, parks, day cares, public swimming pools, hiking and biking trails and "video arcade facilities."
Look at a map of Grapevine, take note of all the parks and schools and kid-centric businesses, add in about 20 licensed child care centers, several of them operating out of people's homes, and a registered sex offender's housing options more or less disappear.
More at http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2014/01/grapevine_bans_molsters.php .
[font color=green]A 2,000 foot buffer does seem to be excessive. Similar restrictions exist in the Las Colinas subdivisions of Irving. Meanwhile, a few years ago when doing a computer search for RSOs, the southern part of Irving lit up like a Christmas tree.[/font]
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