AGain we see Politicians causing a problem with residency laws, then when the clustering occurrs they itch about it again. All they do is temporarily make folks feel good and never solve the underlying causes; get rid of residency laws they fail to provide protection for anyone.7-31-2012 Florida:
Landlords in Rock Lake and other west Orlando neighborhoods are renting so many homes to sex offenders — sometimes a half-dozen or more in a single house — that Orlando has earned a reputation as the state's "dumping ground for sex offenders," one landlord said Monday.
Residents say more restrictive laws in other cities and counties have caused sex offenders to move to Orlando. More than 50 registered sex offenders live in the Rock Lake neighborhood, and nearly 200 within a one-mile radius.
Some 38 sex offenders list their address as the nearby Parkwood Inn, an extended-stay motel on Colonial Drive just west of John Young Parkway.
"I agree that even convicted sex offenders need a place to live, and I always knew there were some in our area," said Loreto Murray, who lives in Spring Lake Manor in the Rock Lake area. "But I don't think it's the best thing for so many of them to live together in the same area, in the same home."
On Monday, Murray and her neighbors asked the City Council to crack down by adopting similar laws that would expand the buffer around schools and other areas where sex offenders aren't allowed to live.
Mayor Buddy Dyer and city commissioners directed administrators to determine whether more restrictive laws in other areas are causing sex offenders to see Orlando as a "safe haven." City attorneys, police, code-enforcement officers and planners will bring back a proposal to the council.
"If in fact our ordinances are less restrictive than other communities, causing sex offenders to see Orlando as a safe haven or a place to move to, we certainly want to correct that," Dyer said.
Orlando relies on state law, which prohibits registered offenders from living within 1,000 feet of schools, day-care centers, parks and playgrounds. That leaves out a lot of housing, particularly in urban areas such as Orlando. But Rock Lake and other nearby areas of west Orlando are largely outside the 1,000-foot buffer. ..For the rest of this story: by Mark Schlueb, Orlando Sentinel
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