Lansford is the latest municipality to rescind ordinances barring registered sex offenders from living near schools, day care centers and other areas where children congregate.

Council on Wednesday agreed to void the ordinance after solicitor Michael Greek advised them to do so.Earlier this month, Walker and Schuylkill townships and Tamaqua borough are among the municipalities to also rescind their ordinances.Greek told Lansford Council that in May, the state Supreme Court struck down an Allegheny County ordinance that restricted registered sex offenders from living near schools, bus stops, day care centers, parks and other child-centered areas.The court determined the 2007 ordinance created "localized penal colonies" whose inhabitants had little access to jobs and other routine aspects of life. That conflicted with the state's Megan's law requirements, which hold that registered sex offenders must report their addresses to authorities so their neighbors can be notified, but does not restrict where they live.Greek told Lansford council that an ordinance restricting where sex offenders could live might be feasible in more rural areas. But the numbers of schools, bus stops, parks, day care centers and other areas in towns leave few areas where they would be able to live.Council wasn't happy, but agreed to take the steps necessary to rescind the ordinance, adopted in 2007."Law-abiding people have no rights," said Councilman Tommy Vadyak.in other matters Wednesday, council:• Heard from resident Rita Klekamp about the borough's burgeoning rat population. Klekamp suggested that poor housekeeping and maintenance by renters and landlords, and inaction on council's part, contributes to the problem;• Considered buying a generator to provide power to borough offices when electricity is out;• Agreed to buy heating oil from Peter J. Radocha of Coaldale at $3.34 a gallon;• Again denied code enforcement officer Katheryn Labosky's request to subscribe to the Code Enforcement Officer Law Bulletin, which Labosky said contains information on how to effectively enforce codes.• Tabled a request from business owner Donna Valent for a parking spot in front of her business at Patterson and Bertsch streets, pending review of related ordinances.