City of Fort Pierce Minutes of a Regular Meeting

Regular Postponed Meeting February 22, 2011
Commissioner Becht said whether grandfathered-in or new, if they
establish a per machine fee... $115 might seem like a lot, but
he had to meet a client in one of these arcades once and he was
just amazed at all the people. Every machine had a person with
quarters and they were just feeding the machines. Those
machines are making money from 10:00 o'clock on. He would
prefer 10:00 o'clock to 10:00 o'clock. He would start off with,
if there is a way to legally prohibit arcades from being in the
City, that is the position he would start with. If he has to
compromise, then compromise from there.
Mayor Benton asked do they have to allow arcades in the
community?
City Attorney Schwerer said the general legal principle involved
would be, if it is a legal business under the laws of the State
of Florida, then the local government would be charged with the
responsibility of preparing its codes so that such business
could coexist with other lawful businesses. But that would not
prohibit them from looking at any special regulations that may
be applicable to these businesses in order that they harmonize
with the general business neighborhood; and also regulate them
in a manner different than perhaps similarly situated
entertainment establishments, given the fact that they are
generally known as gambling institutions. More importantly,
what effect do arcades have on the neighboring businesses, and
what effect do they have on the public's health, safety, and
welfare? So the answer is yes, they do have a duty to devise
regulations to protect the public health, safety, and welfare,
and at the same time allow the lawful business to occur. Many
cities are grappling with this at the present time. There are
cities that have been studying this issue for at least a year or
two in order to harmonize their code with those principles. But
they are under no obligation to come up with those tonight or
even next month. As long as they are making reasonable progress
that would in his opinion satisfy their lawful duty.
Mayor Benton asked what were the two areas Mr. Carlin said this
would be allowed in?
Mr. Carlin said C-3 and C-4.
Mayor Benton said his concern is limiting the number. Could
they say they only want one per square mile? When they look at
the C-3 and C-4 districts, there is not a whole lot of area
there. So this is a way to possibly allow a few arcades, but
not create an arcade on every corner.
Mr. Carlin said that certainly could be evaluated. He could
start doing some calculations and see what that distance
limitation would be. The C-4 includes the downtown area, so
that is out of the question. They would only be focusing on the
C-3.
Commissioner Becht said that is what really kind of tipped the
scales for him. When he thought about it in the downtown area,
he thought they didn't spend millions of dollars and preserve
the waterfront and the Sunrise Theatre and expand the Marina so
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City of Fort Pierce Minutes of a Regular Meeting held on February 22, 2011
Copyright © 2011 City of Fort Pierce Florida