Tampa City Council members are considering an ordinance that would change where some sexual predators live within the city.
According to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, there are more than 800 sexual offenders living in Tampa. Many of them are clustered in one area: V.M Ybor off Nebraska Avenue.
Many of them live crowded in rooming houses, where police make regular visits to make sure the offenders are in compliance.
At Thursday's City Council meeting, residents expressed their frustration about it.
"I have 75 predatory people living within a quarter-mile of my house," resident Kelly Grimsdale said.
For example, one address in V.M. Ybor showed 147 sexual predators within a one-mile radius, while an address in Hyde Park showed only 11.
"It's unfair to focus all the concentration of one group of people in one area," resident Lean Green said. "That is just not fair."
There are statewide restrictions placed on where predators can live, making alternatives difficult to find. But after hearing public comment, council members decided to try.
"The fact of the matter is, it is not just unfair that it's concentrated," council member Harry Cohen said. "It is not smart that all these people are concentrated in one place."
Council members asked the city attorney to look into an ordinance that would prevent the heavy concentration of sexual predators within the city limits.
Currently, there is an ordinance in Hillsborough County, but city leaders said it is not being enforced anywhere within the county.
City council members will discuss the issue further next month.