Ordinance bans sexual offenders from new rec center
By Kevin Kelley
Fairview Park
Published Jan. 2, 2008

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Convicted sexual offenders are not welcomed at the city’s new recreation center, or at any of its parks and athletic fields.

City Council unanimously passed an ordinance Dec. 17 prohibiting individuals convicted of sexual offences and legally required to register with the county sheriff from the city’s playgrounds, parks and recreation facilities.

An exception is made allowing such offenders to attend meetings of public bodies at city facilities.

“Due to the nature of playgrounds, parks and recreation facilities and the number of children at those facilities, it is necessary to take action to properly protect the children visiting these city-owned properties by prohibiting registered sexual offenders,” the ordinance states.

The ordinance defines park facilities as all lands and buildings owned and controlled by the city for park and recreation purposes. These include the Gemini Center, Morton Park and splashground, Bohlken Park, Bain Park and Cabin, Nelson Russ Park, Grannis Park and their associated playgrounds, ball fields, restrooms and pavilions.

Ward 1 Councilman James Robatin, who was elected to the position of city council president in November, sponsored the ordinance.

In January 2006, council passed an ordinance prohibiting certain convicted sex offenders from residing within 1,000 feet of a school, licensed daycare center or city park.

That ordinance, which was also sponsored by Robatin, went beyond a 2003 state law under which registered sex offenders and child-victim-oriented offenders cannot live within 1,000 feet of any school.

“(The new ordinance) is just building on what we did in the past,” Robatin told West Life. “It really is a continuation of protecting these facilities.”

Robatin said he and other council members studied similar ordinances from cities in Cuyahoga County and elsewhere in the nation. The Fairview Park ordinance was loosely based on these laws, he said.

“It’s another tool to help the police keep the community safe and enforce the laws,” he said.