RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA – The City Council voted to repeal an ordinance that bans registered sex offenders from entering city parks without permission from the city’s chief of police.
The move comes after a state appeals court in January struck down similar bans in Irvine and at county recreational areas. The state Supreme Court in April declined to review the lower court’s decision.
Rancho Santa Margarita officials received several letters from the California Reform Sexual Offender Laws organization and the American Civil Liberties Union threatening to sue the city if the council didn’t repeal the ordinance, according to a staff report.
The council on Wednesday voted 4-1 in favor of the repeal, with Councilman Jesse Petrilla opposing it. The council is expected to vote once more on May 28 to finalize the repeal. Despite exposure to lawsuits, Petrilla said he thought the ordinance was worth fighting for.
Councilman Steven Baric brought the issue to the council in 2011.
“I’m really disappointed to do it, but I think we have no other choice at this point,” Baric said before the vote.
Rancho Santa Margarita adopted the ordinance in 2012, joining other Orange County cities that took up the issue following the county’s approval of a similar law. District Attorney Tony Rackauckas helped craft the county law and urged cities countywide to institute such bans.
The catch for Rancho Santa Margarita was that the city doesn’t own any of the 25 parks in its boundaries; they are privately owned and maintained by homeowners associations. The ordinance was nominal at best because HOAs didn’t signed off on the enforcement.
Don Chadd, then president of Rancho Santa Margarita Landscape and Recreation Corp., the city’s largest HOA, said at the time that taking part in the ban could expose the association to lawsuits.
Following the state Supreme Court decision, District Attorney’s Office officials ended their efforts to defend the sex offender ordinances.
Lake Forest repealed its ban in December 2012 after being named in a federal lawsuit filed anonymously by a sex offender. The Laguna Hills City Council on Tuesday voted to repeal its ban in the wake of recent court rulings.
Huntington Beach is set to consider repealing its ban on Monday. ..Source.. by TOMOYA SHIMURA
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