TAMPA, Fla. — Tampa City Council Members will study the findings of a report from the Tampa Police Department on Thursday about a high concentration of sex offenders living in a one-block stretch of Nebraska Avenue in the city’s V.M. Ybor neighborhood.


What You Need To Know

  • Residents have complained about increasing number of sex offenders

  • Tampa police officials say there are now 100 sex offenders living in V.M. Ybor

Residents have complained about an increasing number of sex offenders moving into three large homes on Nebraska Avenue zoned as “Rooming Houses”.

Tampa police officials say there are now 100 sex offenders living in V.M. Ybor, 76 of them with distance restrictions to schools, daycares, parks and other places children regularly congregate.

The stretch of Nebraska Avenue housing sex offenders is one of only three areas of the city where sex offenders can legally live while not violating any terms of probation or distance restrictions.

Some V.M. Ybor residents are asking the city to pass a new ordinance that will help break up the large concentration of sex offenders in their neighborhood.

Hillsborough County passed its own ordinance in 2018 which effectively banned large numbers of sex offenders from living at one location.

However, Tampa police in its report explained that recidivism rates in V.M. Ybor are no different than in other parts of the city where sex offenders live, and having sex offenders living in a more concentrated area helps police with enforcement as well as any offender checks required by law.