Concern Over Number of Sex Offenders in Dothan Motels

It's not hard to see what drew Susan and her husband to the Hidden Lake Subdivision in East Dothan.  "I love seeing the kids out playing on the lake. I love seeing them having a good time and running around being kids," Susan Vierkandt said.

There's something just beyond the picture perfect lake that's causing concern. "It's just kind of risky because you don't know who's in the woods or behind the woods or what they're doing," she continued.

On the other side of those woods are two motels. They're just off Highway 84 East near Cowarts Road. Inside are at least 7 registered sex offenders. They live mere hundreds of feet from the subdivision.

"It's kinda like there is a halfway house over there for people who get out of jail for sex offender crimes and they all know where to go it's just through the woods over here," Vierkandt continued.

People in the neighborhood say it's nothing new. They've been receiving notices about offenders moving in and out of the motels for years.

Dothan City Commissioner Paul Lee wants something done about it. "The ideal solution to me would be to not allow them to all be congrigated in one area," Lee said.

But there's not a law restricting that.  Lee's proposing an ordinance be adopted in Dothan that would limit the number of offenders who can live within a certain distance of each other.

"I just don't think there is a lot of good can come with six, seven, eight people living right there next door to each other in one area," Lee continued.

"I just think word is out- that's the place to go when you get out of jail. That's the thing that is disturbing-- that there seems to be a pipeline," Vierkandt continued.

Until something changes, Susan will keep an eye on that fence line.