City Attorney Gilbert Chichester advised council during a work session tonight on setting arbitrarily high privilege license fees for Internet cafes.
“I need to make council aware of the fact of litigation (being pursued) in regard to their (other town’s and cities’) ordinances,” he said. “ ... They are a legitimate business. Under state law you can’t charge higher fees than other businesses.”
It is considered unfair treatment to do so, the city attorney told the panel. He said Rocky Mount tabled its proposed fees but did say the city could limit the number of machines.
The city has been considering establishing a $3,500 a year privilege license for Internet cafes but Planning and Development Director Amanda Jarratt brought two other examples to the work session including one for $1,000 for the first five machines plus an additional $500 per machine for 20 total machines.
Council at its meeting next week will consider a recommendation on changes to the land use ordinance to address the establishments.
Under the proposal to change the land use ordinance the hours of operation would be 8 a.m. to midnight with it made clear all games cease at midnight. The proposal also says there shall be no more than 20 machines in a business including video poker machines.
Other proposed regulations are:
• 500 feet from any residence or residential zoning district.
• 1,000 feet from any church, religious institution, day care center, public or private schools, public park or playground, public library, cemetery, video arcade or theater which shows G or PG movies regularly.
• 1,000 feet away from any existing electronic gaming operation, tattoo and body piercing establishment or adult and sexually oriented business.
• The machines or terminals must not be prohibited by state or federal law and must have applicable licenses and permits.
• No alcoholic beverages may be served or consumed on the premises.
The proposal also addresses parking with a requirement of 1.5 parking spaces for every two electronic gaming machines plus one space for each employee on shift of greatest employment.
In other matters tonight:
• Chief Jeff Hinton, responding to concerns from people in the River Road community, suggested lowering the speed limit on River Road East to 20 miles per hour and placing a stop sign there, which will would create a three-way stop.
• Council was presented sweeping changes to the nuisance ordinance by Jarratt, who asked council to read the 14-page document to prepare for discussion during the June work session.
“It looks like you’re trying to make it much less ambiguous so you can say this is why you can’t do this,” Mayor Emery Doughtie said. “I really appreciate you all addressing that.”
