Colorado city passes emergency ordinance further restricting sex offenders in neighborhoods
Northglenn city leaders are pushing back against the state's plans to potentially house sex offenders in one neighborhood with an emergency ordinance further restricting where they can live.
On Monday, city council leaders unanimously passed an amendment, which would limit the current boundaries for sex offenders from living no more than 750 feet away from a school to 1,000 feet away.
It's a change that comes after members of the state's Office of Civil and Forensic Mental Health informed the city of their plans to establish Mental Health Transitional Living Homes at 11125 and 11175 Grant Avenue. The 32-bed facility would house people who no longer need care at the state hospital but are still in need of services and care before reintegrating back into society.
State officials initially told city leaders that it was possible sex offenders could be housed there. However, there are no plans at this time to have any once the facility opens in May.
According to a spokesperson for the city, registered sex offenders currently living within the newly prohibited area would be grandfathered in. They are allowed to continue their registration, but if the individual moved from the address or established residency at a different location, they would be prohibited from moving back to the location and would have to comply with the ordinance.
Even with this new ordinance though, city leaders say it might not stop the state from continuing its plan.
The state has a preemptive right and would not be required to follow any municipal ordinance on distance restrictions. However, if the original bill was changed to require local ordinances be followed, there could be no sex offenders at this location if tonight's ordinance passes. It also sends a message to the State that the City does not support housing registered sex offenders at this location.
