"To date, we have received NO comment or response from any City Official or Department"

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This document updates the reports of Sex Offenders and Sex Predators living within 1/4 mile of 5080 South Ridgewood Avenue, that were submitted to City Council and City Staff on Feb 27, 2014, and again on March 25, 2014.  Analysis of the current report and the prior reports show that no changes in residency have occurred.
There are 9 Registered Sex Offenders including,  2 Registered Sex Predators,  living in two group homes, within 100 feet of one another, at the Triangle Motel, 5080 South Ridgewood Avenue, 32127, and at 5090 Isabelle Avenue, 32127.  Further, within one quarter mile from 5080 South Ridgewood we find a total 11 such offenders (The table presented below depict this.)   Within one mile of the 5080 Ridgewood Avenue location there are 24 offenders.  This is now the largest concentration of such offenders in Port Orange.
This concentration of sex offenders was previously identified to City Officials as a documented complaint, on February 27, 2014, and again on March 25, 2014.
At the March 25, 2014, Council meeting, Council Person, Robert Ford, brought the sex offender situation to Council’s attention, and, at that meeting,  Tom Quick, A resident of Harbor Oaks, a Ridgewood  Corridor neighborhood, spoke before Council regarding the registered sex offenders and sex predators allowed to concentrate in  group residences within the Ridgewood Corridor.  Council directed City Staff to investigate to determine what could be done to about the situation.  To date,  we have received NO comment or response from any City Official or Department.
This concentration reinforces that  the Ridgewood Corridor is  a dumping ground for the sex offenders, as well as the businesses and other activities that are not wanted or permitted elsewhere in the City.
Residents of the Ridgewood Corridor are very concerned.  We have identified a situation, that we feel to be dangerous, to what should be the proper authorities, and feel that we are being ignored.
1) How can a motel operating under City ordinances be considered a permanent residence, and still be considered a motel and allowed to operate as a motel? The offenders report the their residences as a being permanent, and FDLE records show that this has been true now for approximately three months.  Obviously, this motel is not operating as a motel or hotel.  Does it meet codes required for other residences within the City?
2) With the 2014 establishment of a 2,500 foot barrier precluding  sex offenders from living near schools and places that children congregate, and now with South Dayton following suit, with a 2,500 foot barrier; can we expect even more Sex offenders moving into the “group facilities” in the Ridgewood corridor?  Our interpretation of the  barrier requirement places Bushman Playground and Park within the barrier radius, and puts the Riverwalk Park, once opened within the barrier radius.
3) What will be the impact on businesses and people wanting to relocate to Port Orange to Port Orange, will they want to locate in a nesting areas for Sex Offenders?  Further what is the potential impact on the marketability of Riverwalk with the close concentration of Sex Offenders?
4) What about the impact on property owners  wishing to sell their properties?
5) Why can’t the City place signs on the group-homes to warn people of the concentration of Sex Offenders?  What of families with children that might stay at the Triangle motel?  Shouldn’t they be warned of the concentration of Sex Offenders at this location?  What is the liability of not warning people of known risk situations.  The mere fact that the FDLE publishes Registered Sex Offender lists is an implied statement of risk.
6) Last, and most important, what can be done by the City to ensure that children are  living within 2,500 feet of these concentrations of Sex Offenders are protected?
We understand that registered sex offender and sex predators, have to live somewhere, but the should they be allowed to concentrate into group residences?   It’s like dogs–if they are in a pack they will bite you, but not if they are separate.  Such offenders should be integrated into the community and distributed as widely as possible, not concentrated in a single area.
Thomas Quick, Harbor Oaks Area Homeowners Association, Inc.
718 Palm Circle Drive, Port Orange, Fl 32127
http://offender.fdle.state.fl.us/offender/searchNeighborhood.do     (listing of Apr 22, 2014, source: Florida Department of Law Enforcement)