Wadesboro passes ordinance to limit electronic gaming

WADESBORO — The Wadesboro Town Council passed a new ordinance on March 13 to address the excessive gaming businesses popping up within city limits.

Historically there have been issues associated with many of these electronic gaming businesses including armed robbery or fraud, causing the police department to constantly send resources to the stores.

“We get frequent call outs for police,” Town Manager David Edwards said. “Whether it’s disagreements between patrons and management, noise complaints or loitering — issues like that.”

Neighboring businesses also expressed concern with the crowds gathering outside the electronic gaming sites. Their concerns include whether their patrons or employees will feel comfortable going from the business to their cars with the gaming crowds.

The electronic gaming businesses have been in the back of Edwards and Town Council members’ mind since Edwards started in his position. The rest of North Carolina has been dealing with an ever-changing landscape in this type of business for the last 10 years.

“It is something we’ve been talking about for quite some time,” Edwards said. “The council, members of the community have all expressed concerns about the prolific nature of the number of electronic gaming operations going on in town.”

At one point, gaming businesses were illegal, but as the law changed throughout the years, these businesses adapted to meet the legal requirements.

The hope in Wadesboro for all these years was for the General Assembly of North Carolina would strengthen the statutes on this industry, according to Edwards.

“There has been three or four large landmark, state-level cases that have gone to the highest levels of North Carolina court system that…set some of the precedence for how law enforcement and municipalities have dealt with these types of issues,” Edwards said.

Another case is about to begin at the North Carolina Supreme Court level within the next week, but Edwards does not believe the verdict will be “sweeping” enough to eliminate the electronic gaming businesses.

“In the absence of the General Assembly making changes and in the absence of any decision throughout this North Carolina Supreme Court case, the council decided we would like to strengthen our own town ordinances,” Edwards said. “We don’t have the ability to shut anyone down. We don’t have the ability to deny them their right to open a business…”

The new ordinance

Prior to March 13, the town did not have any ordinance relating to the electronic gaming businesses. The new ordinance was crafted to meet the concerns of the town and to help limit the issues associated with the industry.

A new electronic gaming business wanting to open in Wadesboro may not be located within a quarter mile of the property line of any church, house of worship, public or private schools, library, parks, daycare center or a residential zoning district. No two electronic gaming businesses can be located within a half mile from each other, measuring in a straight line.

The business must be operating in a establishment with the correct certificate of occupancy. Business hours are limited from 10:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. No neon or flashing lights or fluttering devices can be visible from the exterior. Tinted windows or curtains are prohibited. Windows facing the street must have a clear view inside. All spaces within the business must also remain open for unobstructed access by government officials during business hours.

All electronic gaming operations must be running on the ground floor of a building. There shall be two parking spaces required per machine and one space for each employee. A security provider must be present on site if there are more than three gaming machines.

The owner of the business must also sign an affidavit stating there will be no cash payouts, promotions and he or she will not operate any gaming machine.

These requirements in the ordinance are only for new gaming establishments coming. Edwards said the town does not have the power to apply these rules to already existing businesses.

If an already opened gaming site changes owners, the new owner will have to come before the town, apply for a new zoning permit and meet these new ordinance requirements. A change of ownership happens frequently, about one every quarter, according to Edwards.

“The goal again is not to shut these businesses down,” Edwards said. “Its to have a little more oversight over the frequency, frequency being the number of businesses that are populated in the town, the manner in which they operate, making sure they are more safe and that they are in safe locations in the community…”

Between 10 to 12 arcade and gaming businesses are in Wadesboro at any given time, according to Edwards. This number changes on almost a monthly basis as one will close, change ownership, renovate or a new one pops up.

The electronic gaming business does not pay any sales tax to the town. There is zero revenue based off operations coming into Wadesboro, other than property tax and the water and sewer bills.

“We just want to make sure that if and when they are operating, they do so in a safe manner and one that’s also healthy for their neighbors,” Edwards said. “We want to make sure everyone gets a fair shake at serving their customers.”

Moving forward, Edwards believes the ordinance will not only limit crime and call volume, but create a safer environment for everyone and attract new revenue-generating businesses into town.