Englewood's 2006 ordinance restricting where sex offenders can live "impermissibly conflicts with the application and effectuation of the state interest in the uniform treatment, management, rehabilitation and reintegration of sex offenders," wrote U.S. District Judge R. Brooke Jackson in his order.
The order was published in August after a lawsuit on behalf of a sex offender who bought a house in Englewood. The order states that restrictive "not in my backyard ordinances" can have a domino effect, eventually forbidding any sex offenders from living anywhere in Colorado.
The Englewood city ordinance stated that sex offenders convicted of a felony had to be at least 2,000 feet away from schools, parks and playgrounds and at least 1,000 feet away from any day care, recreation center or public swimming pool.
In the city of almost 7 square miles, that made 99 percent of the city's residences off limits.
"Our ordinance was not changed. It's essentially unenforceable now," said Michael Flaherty, Englewood's deputy city manager.
Hoping to avoid a similar lawsuit, Greeley changed its rules in February to scale back on some restrictions.
