The council says the move is in response to a recent increase in the number of sex offenders living in the city limits. Some feel tighter ordinances in other area cities is the reason for the increase in sex offenders moving to Baytown.
The ordinance prohibits sex offenders from living within 1,500 feet of a public park, private or public elementary or secondary school, playground, day care center, video arcade facility, public or private youth center and a neighborhood or public swimming pool.
This ordinance is similar to one recently passed in Sugar Land. It also holds any property owner responsible for knowingly renting to a sex offender when the property is within the boundaries of the provision.
If you want to see if a sex offender is living near you, check the Texas sex offender database.
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