WATERBORO (AP) – Residents in the neighboring York County towns of Waterboro and Lyman have voted overwhelmingly to approve ordinances that bar registered sex offenders from living near schools and day care centers.
The ballot questions approved Tuesday were the first such ordinances in Maine and are likely to be watched closely by other communities concerned about sex offenders in their midst.
In Waterboro, where a child sex offender sparked protests by moving into a home 840 feet from a junior high school, the ordinance setting a minimum distance of 2,500 feet from schools and 1,000 feet from day care centers was approved by a vote of 2,206 to 131.
A similar ordinance in Lyman was endorsed by a 1,586 to 250 margin.
Rep. Larry Jacobsen, R-Waterboro, said he plans to propose legislation to bar sex offenders form living within at least 500 feet of schools.
Similar residency restrictions have faced court challenges in other states, and the Maine Civil Liberties Union said prior to the balloting that the Lyman and Waterboro ordinances would raise serious constitutional issues.
—
Information from: Portland Press Herald, http://www.pressherald.com
AP-ES-11-08-06 1028EST
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.