St. Cloud City Council Passes Housing Ordinance for Level Three Predatory Offenders

(KNSI) — The St. Cloud City Council Monday night approved a housing ordinance regarding where level three predatory offenders with victims under 18 can live.

The rule says there must be a 1,000 foot buffer zone between their home and a school or any active parks with playgrounds, splash pads, or other such amenities. The initial ordinance kept them away from schools, but Mayor Dave Kleis was one of those pushing for tougher restrictions, “It was omitting a very significant part – parks. I mean, that’s probably the area where there’s the most vulnerability. It was excluding the most vulnerable area where young people would be. This now adds that piece in.”

City Council Member Dr. Karen Larson had been working on a proposal for two years after learning two level three offenders had moved across the street from an elementary school. She came up with the original proposal and voted for this ordinance. “I’m comfortable about this ordinance being sufficiently vetted. That we have a balance between the needs of protecting children on the one hand and respecting the rights and the rehabilitation possibilities of the offenders.”

Larson told her fellow council members that it was personal for her and in the name of her constituents. She was the victim of a sexual assault by a stranger while an intern at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington D.C. Larson was a teenager at the time.

The ordinance goes into effect in 30 days.

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