Discussions come after Planning and Development Director Kelly Lasky told the board in recent months gaming establishments have reopened across the state, including three in the city.
Two of the operations are lawfully permitted with conditional use permits. The city granted a CUP for a business in the Dunham’s shopping center which did not open.
One of the existing operations is considered a legal grandfathered business in operation before the city’s adoption of location restrictions in 2011.
(Discussion of the matter will continue at the board’s December 15 meeting, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. at the Lloyd Andrews City Meeting on Jackson Street)
Lasky told the board staff has experienced a significant amount of calls from potential gaming operators who desire to open businesses in the city. The calls, she said, come in on a regular basis, at least one a day with sometimes multiple calls.
Police department review of calls to establishments, Lasky told the board, show, “There hasn’t been as many calls to them as there has been at Walmart. We have more trouble with nightclubs. Gaming has much greater restrictions than nightclubs.”
One of the recommendations Lasky is suggesting to the planning board is consideration of allowing the gaming establishments to be a permissible use with a zoning permit approved by planning staff rather than one granted through a conditional use permit, which requires planning board review and a public hearing before city council.
The other recommendation is to consider reducing some of the separation requirements, such reducing the 1,000-foot distance from establishments such as schools, movie theaters and public parks while still upholding residential restrictions.
Planning staff is not in favor of reinstating restrictions on the hours of operation, Lasky said.
Debra Lynch, who attending the meeting, told the board she has been trying to find a location for a skilled gaming operation.
She has prior experience in the business and described the city’s restrictions as “very tight. Why be so restrictive?”
She said the inside of the businesses can best be described as a college library. “It’s a quiet atmosphere. Students come to use the Internet to do their homework.”
Board Chair Gregory Browning said, “I think we want to do some research. I think it needs more research before proceeding to city council.”
Councilman Wayne Smith, who attended the meeting as liaison between the panel and planning board, had no immediate comment.