VM Ybor neighbors brings concerns over clustered sex offenders to Tampa City Council
TAMPA, Fla. - Neighbors in the VM Ybor community in Tampa urged city council members on Thursday to help with a clustering of sex offenders in one small part of their neighborhood.
According to the state's sex offender registry, there are more than 90 sex offenders in a half-mile area in VM Ybor, with more than half of those people living in three rooming houses on North Nebraska Avenue.
Neighbors, like Kelly Grimsdale, have been begging for council members to do something for more than a decade, she said.
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"It almost makes me want to cry. I don't know what to do. Luckily, I think we got the closest today to the city council members understanding our issue," Grimsdale told FOX 13, following city council's workshop, adding she often has more than 70 sex offenders living within a quarter-mile of her house.
Council members said they want to help, but admitted their hands may be tied by laws regulating where sex offenders can live. State law bans sex offenders from living within a thousand feet of a school, daycare, park or playground. Experts have said this is often why they live close to one another.
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Additionally, the Tampa Police Department filed a memorandum to accompany the discussion advising council to take no action. The memo cited studies that report that when sex offenders are forced to move, many end up homeless.
Council members, however, promised to help these neighbors by exploring all options.
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"There's a lot of things that we can't do, but we got to think about things that we can do to think outside of the box," said Councilman Luis Viera.
"I don't think any of us are going to give up on this just like you all are not going to give up on it," added Councilman Bill Carlson.
City Council voted unanimously to request members of the city's code enforcement and Tampa Fire Department attend the meeting on December 21 to discuss potential solutions.
"Do not tell me that our neighborhood, that Nebraska Avenue is the only place where these people can live. There has to be other places," said Grimsdale, adding some of the sex offenders are known to commit crimes in the community too. "I say, share the wealth. Spread them out. When you're putting all these at-risk people in one place, it doesn't rehabilitate them."