Council backs offender bylaw By Crystal Bozek/ Daily News Staff Tuesday, November 7, 2006
MARLBOROUGH -- Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders should not start packing their bags quite yet.
Despite the City Council's approval last night of an ordinance banning certain sex offenders from living almost anywhere in the city, the law will remain inactive indefinitely.
Councilors approved a motion to reconsider the ordinance by a 7-4 vote directly after approving it, placing it back in subcommittee hands and off the mayor's desk.
"I'm disappointed a little. They just approved it in principle," said Councilor Steven Levy, the ordinance's author. "I still think it's the right thing to do. ... I'm confident it will pass in one form or another."
Levy's ordinance would bar Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders who offended against children from living within 2,500 feet of any school, day care or recreational place. Those offenders also could not visit parks, playgrounds or other recreational places where children congregate, under the proposal.
Several councilors said they wanted to take a second look at the 2,500-foot exclusion zone, possibly tweaking it to a less restrictive 2,000 or 1,500 feet.
"That seems to be the one stumbling block to this," Councilor Richard Towle said.
"The zone is too prohibitive."
Only a few allowed residency sites exist under the current ordinance, mostly zoned industrial or commercial. Another spot sits by the highway.
The council's legal and legislative affairs subcommittee spent an entire summer discussing the ordinance's constitutionality, deciding to keep the 2,500 feet. Few councilors showed up.
"Where were you three months ago when we were discussing it?" Councilor Paul Ferro asked his fellow councilors who asked for more discussion. "I think this is disingenuous. You're either for or against it. ... I think it's an attempt to kill this order. "
Councilors Patricia Pope, Michael Ossing and Edward Clancy all voted against passing the ordinance last night, as they did at last week's meeting. They cited legal costs and the possibility of driving offenders underground.
The council voted to approve the ordinance last week, but after Ossing objected to its passing, they had to retake a final vote last night.
"I don't want to insult the attorneys of the world, but they're all lining up," Ossing said. "We're setting up leper colonies. ... We need to look harder at this."
If passed, offenders who bought houses in the city prior to the ordinance's passing would be exempt from it, as well as minors. Renters would have until the end of a fixed-term written lease before getting the boot. Violators would be fined up to $300 a day and have their ordinance violation reported to probation or parole officers, along with the Sex Offender Registry Board.
American Civil Liberties Union Director Ronal Madnick attended the meeting, delivering an opposition letter to the council, but councilors criticized the group for trying to step in at the last minute.
"A motion to reconsider would not be a motion to kill," said Towle, who made that motion. "I am not running in fear of the ACLU."
Fifty-one Level 2 and Level 3 sex offenders either live or work in the city, according to the state's Sex Offender Registry.
Levy said he hopes to see some form of the ordinance pass and be active by the end of the year.
(Crystal Bozek can be reached at 508-490-7453 or cbozek@cnc.com.)
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