The ordinance changes come as lawsuits challenging the state legislature’s move last year to ban the establishments has been successfully challenged in Guilford and Wake counties, Planning and Development Director Amanda Jarratt told the board.

Establishments across the state were to have closed down December 1, Jarratt wrote in a memo to the planning board. The question deals with part of the legislation which prohibits video games not dependent on skill or dexterity that offer prizes from entry in a sweepstakes.

A Guilford County judge declared this unconstitutional while a Wake County judge ruled this section of the legislation should not be enforced until the question is resolved in higher courts.

How this affects the rules Roanoke Rapids City Council passed last year is the part of the local ordinance which limits the number of machines in the six establishments in the city, the memo says.

The rule changes the planning board will recommend to city council include striking the 20 machine limit and a rule which says the issuance of a conditional use permit to operate an electronic gaming establishment does not grant the owner or operator perpetual rights to operate such a facility. “The operation at all times (will) be in compliance with any state or federal law or regulations,” according to the memo.

City Attorney Gilbert Chichester said following the meeting this means, should council approve the changes, establishments wanting to add machines or any new gaming operations wanting to locate in Roanoke Rapids would be required to obtain a conditional use permit using the public hearing process through the planning board and city council.

In another matter tonight the planning board will send a recommendation to city council to approve a rezoning request from C&H Farm Supply. The company, located in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction on Highway 125 and State Road 1600, requested to rezone 7.11 acres of land from residential to business for possible future expansion.