WESTLAKE, Fla. — The city of Westlake in Palm Beach County is poised to restrict where registered sex offenders can live.
The proposal is expected to pass at a July 16 meeting.
Westlake currently follows Florida law which restricts registered offenders from living within 1,000 feet of a school, public library, park, playground, community center or day care facility.
However, the city council is poised to expand the ban to 2,500 feet. That's roughly a half-mile radius.
The blue areas on this Westlake map show the 1000-foot zones around an adventure park and schools, where registered sex offenders cannot live.
If the city extends the ban to 2,500 feet, these offenders will have even fewer places to live. Keep in mind there are no homes in the northwest corner of the map.
Westlake maps do not show the location of the many community centers or small parks in current or future subdivisions in purple. If they did, you'd find even fewer places sex offenders could legally live.
WPTV suggested to Westlake City Council Member Gary Werner that critics might say the city is trying to keep sex offenders 100% out of the city.
"We're not looking to try to create a total ban," said Werner. "We would like to do everything we can as a city council so that we create the best environment for all the investments."
Werner added that he checked with the city attorney to make sure widening the buffer zone would withstand a potential court challenge from those who claim it potentially leads to homelessness.
Werner said the move will also allow the small city to continue to be family friendly and safe and provide a benchmark for new subdivisions now under construction.
I asked him how much safer people would feel with a 2,500 foot buffer as opposed to a 1,000 foot buffer.
"I've heard from many of our local residents," he said. "It's all family, and everyone is concerned, and they want to be able to protect their children, and we want to be there to help them."
Westlake has three schools and several small community centers and parks, along with the popular Westlake Adventure Park — which is open only to Sky Cove and Sky Cove South residents.
A check of Florida's sex offender registry shows just two sex offenders live in Westlake.
Under Florida law, they would not be forced to move if Westlake expands the range of places that are off-limits to registered sex offenders.
Westlake's council is scheduled to vote on the ban Tuesday night, and council members tell me there is no known opposition.
