“My biggest concern was that it sent a message that it was OK to deal drugs in a city park but a sex offender who completed his sentence and has been through treatment and everything else better not drive by,” said Robert Belka, who identified himself as a registered sex offender. “That shows no faith in the system.”
The Clinton City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to repeal the ordinance, saying it needed more assurance the ordinance would stand up in court. But no council members said they were ready to let the issue die.
“Sometimes the cure is worse than the illness,” said Councilman Dale King. “In this case, we think it is better to spend taxpayer money up front to have a constitutional scholar look it over.”
The ordinance banned registered sex offenders from coming within 100 feet of a city park or city-owned facility where children may gather or play.
Police officials said the ordinance would have been hard to enforce. For instance, most city streets are within the 100-foot barrier and the law would have prohibited someone on the state's sex registry from driving past the park or stopping to pick up their own children.
“I'm glad they are looking at this again,” said Clinton police Chief Bill Chilson, who spoke in favor of the ordinance in previous meetings. “The way it was written, they couldn't even leave town if they wanted to and, technically, I would have had to stand there and ID everyone who came into the park.”
City officials didn't say when they might revisit the issue. But King said he had located a professor of constitutional law at Brigham Young University who might be able to advise them on the matter. In the meantime, the council has approved a $5,000 budget increase to beef up the Northern Davis County community's Neighborhood Watch program.
“We may come back with something better,” said Councilman Paul Ray, who initially proposed the plan.
“One of the concerns with this ordinance was that it didn't address the predators who haven't been caught. In the meantime, the Neighborhood Watch is a pretty good place to start.”
lorib@sltrib.com
