Allouez moves to block sex offenders

A LLOUEZ – Aiming to halt a surge of sex offenders relocating here, Allouez village leaders have imposed new restrictions that prohibit additional offenders from settling virtually anywhere in the community.

Under a measure approved Tuesday by the Village Board, offenders are barred from living within 2,000 feet of any school, park or other place where children gather.

That covers more than 90 percent of the village, and unlike a similar restriction on the books in Green Bay, there will be no process for appealing the prohibition in Allouez.

Although some village trustees voiced reservations about the sweeping policy change, many said their hand was forced by Green Bay's rules and a resulting movement of offenders into Allouez.

"We have to do something that is going to protect our village," Trustee Jim Rafter said.

The new ordinance will not force the relocation of an estimated 30 sex offenders already believed to be living in Allouez.

Village President Steve Vanden Avond and others said they hope tougher local measures in Allouez — and perhaps elsewhere — will prompt state lawmakers to offer a statewide solution to the issue of sex offenders relocating and disrupting neighborhoods.

"If we're going to raise this to a state level," Vanden Avond said, "we've got to start doing something."

Allouez residents and elected leaders have voiced alarm in recent months about a surge in sex offenders living here. One offender recently moved into a house on Taft Street and another was found living on Hastings Street, after Green Bay had rejected residency requests from both.

For several years, Green Bay has prohibited convicted sex offenders from living within 2,000 feet of any local school, park and other places with children. The city allows offenders to appeal for permission to live within one of those restricted zones.

Allouez, meanwhile, prohibited sex offenders only from congregating at a single residence or from loitering near where children gather.

Earlier this summer, a representative of the Brown County Sheriff's Department told village officials that the local sex offender population since 2008 had jumped from 12 to 29 — including 10 new offenders settling here within the past year.

Village officials expressed shock at the trend and began looking for ways to curtail it.

Village Attorney Dennis Duffy told trustees Tuesday that a 2,000-foot rule would cover about 96 percent of the village and would dramatically reduce the potential for more sex offenders to move here.

Such a prohibition has been implemented elsewhere and has been tested in court cases, Duffy said. He also said that although Green Bay has included an appeal process for offenders wanting to live in a restricted area, he did not think that was necessary.

"I'd avoid being creative at this point," he said.

Trustee Randy Gast joined others in voicing reservations about the measure. Gast, however, said the village must do something to avoid another situation where neighbors are shocked to discover a sex offender living in their midst.

The situation could even worsen, Gast said, if other surrounding communities pass tough restrictions on offenders.

"We'll be the only place that offenders can go," he said. "And that's just not right."

— swilliams@pressgazettemedia.com and follow him on Twitter @pgscottwilliams.