08-25-2021 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of the City Council FROM: Chris Heineman, City Administrator Heidi Heller, City Clerk/HR Manager DATE: August 25, 2021 RE: Ordinance 855, Amending City Code Chapter 2204, Exclusion Zones & Prohibition of Certain Employment-Related Activities ACTION TO BE CONSIDERED: Adoption of Ordinance 855, Amending City Code Chapter 2204, Exclusion Zones & Prohibition of Certain Employment-Related Activities, and authorize summary publication of the Ordinance. BACKGROUND: The City of Little Canada adopted Ordinance 855 in March of 2016, which established “exclusion zones” related to predatory offenders. The current ordinance states that any individual who is required to register as a predatory offender cannot be present within the 500-foot radius around any school, school bus stop, church or place of worship, public park or city easement or public wooded or open space or any public trails or fishing piers, or a child care facility. Ordinance 855 also prohibits all predatory offenders from operating, managing, being employed by, acting as a contractor or volunteer, or attending in public or private fairs or carnivals. A registered predatory offender is also prohibited from operating, managing, or being employed by or acting as a contractor or volunteer at any school, school bus stop, church or place of worship, public park or city easement or public wooded or open space or any public trails or fishing piers. At the City Council Meeting on August 11, the City Clerk stated that city staff has received some recent inquiries about this ordinance, and have discovered that the current language is too broad and difficult to enforce. In 2017, the City of West St. Paul was sued by a registered predatory offender who was told they had to move from where they were currently living. The City of West St. Paul’s ordinance was deemed by the judge to be too broad and the city had to pay a large settlement and ultimately amended their ordinance to narrow the scope of who and what locations were included. Staff consulted with City Attorney Patrick Kelly, and he stated that Little Canada’s ordinance also needs to be amended, and recommended using West St. Paul’s 2018 version as a guide. City Council members agreed that the ordinance should be amended and that any revised language must be enforceable by staff. The Council acknowledged that restrictions for predatory offenders must balance protecting resident safety against providing basic civil rights of registered offenders who have served their sentences and been released. There was general consensus by the Council to amend Code Chapter 2204 and narrow the scope of property uses with a radius and specify which risk level of offenders will be required to follow our City Code.