HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 228 ORDINANCE NO. 228
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL CITY
ADDING CHAPTER 5.19 TO THE CATHEDRAL CITY
MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO GAME ARCADES.
` The city council of the City of Cathedral City does ordain as follows:
SECTION 1. A new chapter, to be numbered 5.19 hereby is added to
the Cathedral City Municipal Code, to read as follows:
Chapter 5.19
GAME ARCADES
Sections:
5.19.010 Definitions.
5.19.020 Permits - Required.
5.19.025 Responsibilities of business operators.
upon whose premises game machines are found.
5.19.030 Operator's permit - Application.
5.19.040 Investigation.
5.19.050 Issuance of Permits.
5.19.060 Hearing upon denial of permit.
5.19.070 Game Machine Tag.
5.19.080 Display of tag or plate.
5.19.085 Display of information concerning distributor.
5.19.086 Untagged machines; nuisance; reconnection fees;
administrative fees.
5.19.090 Transfer of permit.
5.19.100 Revocation of permit.
5.19.110 Permit in addition to business license or
other permit.
5.19.120 Prohibited devices.
5.19.130 Violation - Penalty.
5.19.010 Definitions. For the purpose of this chapter, the
following terms are defined as follows:
A. "Game arcade" means any place of business to which the
public is admitted wherein six (6) or more game machines are
maintained.
B. "Game machine" means any machine, device or apparatus which
is used as a game or contest of any description or for amusement, or
which may be used for any such game or contest or for amusement and
the operation or use of which is permitted, controlled, or made
possible by the deposit or placing of any coin, plate, disc, slug, or
key into any slot, crevice or other opening, or by the payment of any
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fee or fees in lieu thereof, except a machine, device or apparatus
used or offered for use, by children for rides, or as a hobby horse or
for the viewing of miniature cartoons or "kiddie theater" films in
establishments or areas reserved for the use of children under the age
L of fourteen years and their parents or guardians or by any person for
playing or rendering music or as a test of strength or endurance.
C. "Person" means any natural person, firm, partnership,
corporation or association. The singular use includes the plural .
D. "Game machine operator" means any person required to obtain
a permit under this chapter.
5.19.020 Permits Required.
A. Game Machine Permit. It is unlawful for any person to engage
in the business of renting, operating, leasing, selling or maintaining
game machines in the City without first having secured a permit from
the City to do so. The following persons owning or operating local
business establishments are exempt from the game machine operator
permit requirement of this chapter:
1. A person owning, operating and maintaining not more than
two game machines as an incidental business used at a local place of
business having the requisite business license pursuant to Chapter
5.01 of this title;
2. A person leasing game machines at a local place of
business from a person having a permit under this chapter.
B. Conditional Use Permit. Any business that operates six or
more game machines shall be considered a game arcade and shall acquire
an approved conditional use permit prior to applying for a game
machine permit. A game arcade shall meet all requirements of Chapter
9.02, known as the Zoning Ordinance, City of Cathedral City.
5.19.025 Responsibilities of business operator upon whose
premises game machines are found.
A. It is unlawful for any person operating any business
enterprise within the City to have in operation upon the premises of
such person any game machine as defined in this chapter which does not
have affixed thereto or posted in a conspicuous place nearby the tag
or plate issued under this chapter as required by Section 5.19.080.
This section shall not apply to a person owning, operating and
maintaining not more than two game machines as an incidental business
used at a local place of business having the requisite business
license pursuant to Chapter 5.01 of this title, so long as the person
actually owns, operates and maintains the machine himself.
B. Any person operating any business enterprise within the City
which has in operation upon the premises of such person any game
machine as defined in this chapter shall , at the time of renewal of
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the annual business license for such business, provide to the City a
list of all game machines then on the premises and the names and
addresses of the distributors of each such machine.
C. Each such business operator shall notify the business license
section within ten days after any change is made in the number of game
machines on his premises for which a license is required or after any
change in the name or address of the distributor of any such machine
is made. Any such person shall also notify the business license
section immediately if an untagged game machine is installed upon his
premises.
5.19.030 Operator's permit - Application. An applicant for a
game machine operator's permit shall submit an application to the
business license section which application shall be under penalty of
perjury and upon a form supplied by such business license section.
Such application shall include the true names, addresses, and past
criminal record, if any, of the applicant and of all persons
financially interested in the applicant's business, and such other
information as may be deemed necessary by the business license
section, Chief of Police and Mayor and City Council to determine
whether such game machine operator's permit shall be granted. The
application shall be accompanied by a fully executed fingerprint card
as to each such applicant, prepared under the direction of the Chief
of Police. An applicant shall pay a fee established by City Council
resolution to cover the costs of the investigation and shall provide
to the Chief of Police a money order payable to the California
Department of Justice in such amount as required by that agency to
process its report to the City based upon the fingerprint card
provided. A permit may be renewed annually upon payment of the annual
permit fee as established by City Council resolution.
B. "Persons financially interested" includes all persons who are
officers or directors of a corporation or shareholders holding more
than three percent of the shares thereof or persons who share in the
profits of a non-corporate business on the basis of gross or net
revenue, but it does not include persons who receive a portion of such
gross or net revenue in return for the privilege of permitting any
other person to maintain such game machine in their place of business.
5.19.040 Investigation. The business license section shall
refer a copy of the application to the Chief of Police who shall
L carefully investigate the applicant and the facts and circumstances
concerning the application submitted to him pursuant to Section
5.19.030.
5.19.050 Issuance of permits.
A. The Chief of Police shall either approve or deny the issuance
by the business license section of the permit to the applicant within
forty-five days of the date that the copy of the application is
submitted to him. The Chief of Police may deny a permit on any of the
following grounds:
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1. The operation will not comport with the peace, health,
safety, convenience and general welfare of the public;
t2. The application is not complete in that all requested
information is not supplied;
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3. The operation has been or is a public nuisance;
4. The operation would be in violation of a City ordinance,
state law or federal law;
5. The applicant made a false, misleading or fraudulent
statement of fact in his application for a permit;
6. The operation by the applicant will be carried on in a
building, structure and location which does not comply with and meet
all of the health, zoning, fire and safety requirements and standards
of the laws of the state and ordinances of the City;
7. The applicant, his employee, agent, or any person
connected or associated with the applicant as a partner, director,
officer, stockholder, associate, or manager has allowed or permitted
acts of sexual misconduct or lewd conduct to be committed within prior
or present business operations;
8. The applicant has within the year prior to the
application date wilfully violated any provisions of this chapter or
of the City licensing provisions.
B. The Police Chief shall notify the applicant of the denial of
his application for a permit and the reasons therefor. Service of
such notice shall be made personally or by certified mail . The notice
shall include or be accompanied by a statement that the applicant may
request a hearing before the Mayor and City Council by filing with the
City Clerk a written request thereof within ten days after service
upon him of the notice of the denial of his application and that
failure to do so will constitute a waiver of his right to a hearing.
5.19.060 Hearing upon denial of permit. Within ten days after
service upon him of a written notice of the Police Chief's denial of
his application for a permit, the applicant may file a request for
hearing in writing and signed by or on behalf of the applicant and
shall state his mailing address. It need not be verified or follow
any particular form. Failure to file such a request for a hearing
shall constitute a waiver of the applicant's right to a hearing. No
further notice other than notice of the date and place of hearing need
be served on the applicant. Hearings granted under this section shall
allow for the applicant to be represented by counsel . The decision of
the Mayor and City Council shall be final .
5.19.070 Game machine tag. Upon the issuance of any game
machine operator's permit, the applicant therefor shall notify the
business license section in writing of the location of each game
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machine and in the event of any change in the location of any machine,
the permittee shall notify the business license section of the change
within ten days including the address of the new location. At the
time of issuing a business license for any game machine, the business
license section shall issue a tag or plate for each machine to be
operated by the game operator within the City limits, and such tags or
plates shall be given serial numbers consecutively in the order of
their issuance. The tags and plates shall be of wear-resistant
materials.
5.19.080 Display of tag or plate. Every game machine operator
shall at all times have affixed to or posted conspicuously nearby each
game machine regulated under the terms of this chapter the tag or
plate issued under this chapter.
5.19.085 Display of information concerning distributor. Every
game machine regulated under the terms of this chapter shall at all
times have affixed thereto in a conspicuous place thereon a tag,
label , owner identification card or other identifying device listing
the name, current address, and current telephone number of the
distributor of such game machine.
5.19.086 Untagged machines; nuisance; reconnection fees;
administrative fees.
A. Any machine not having the tags required by Section 5.19.080
or the information required by Sections 5.19.085 and 5.19.025
Subsection B is declared a nuisance, and shall be subject to
disconnection by the City. A representative of the City shall be
authorized to disconnect and render said machine inoperative,
following which the machine shall not be reconnected or returned to
operation until the requirements of the City code are met.
B. The business license section shall assess the person
operating a business enterprise within the City upon whose premises
one or more untagged game machines are found for each such untagged
game machine, and for each game machine for which the information
required under Sections 5.19.085 and 5.19.025 Subsection B has not
been provided, an administrative fee in an amount computed to cover
the average cost of investigating, locating, disconnecting and
controlling untagged game machines and inadequately identified game
machines. This assessment shall be the average cost of such
procedures for each such untagged game machine, and for each
inadequately identified machine, which administrative fee shall
hereafter be subject to periodic review and determination by the City
Manager based upon the experienced costs of such control and
regulation. Such assessment shall be in addition to any reconnection
fee imposed under Section 5.19.086 Subsection A. No such fee shall be
assessed as to any such untagged machine when the business operator
has notified the business license section, under the provisions of
Section 5.19.025 Subsection B, in advance of the City's representative
appearing at the scene, that such untagged machine was located upon
the premises. Any fee assessed by the business license section shall
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be subject to appeal by the person assessed to the Mayor and City
Council . Failure to pay any assessment within ten days after notice
of imposition thereof, or, if appealed, within ten days after decision
by the Mayor and City Council , shall be an omission justifying
suspension of any business licensee's business license. In the
alternative, the business license section may notify the person
assessed that the business license for those premises will not be
renewed, or reissued until all outstanding assessment fees have been
paid.
5.19.090 Transfer of permit. No game machine operator's permit
issued pursuant to this chapter shall be assignable or transferable
either voluntarily or by operation or law or otherwise.
5.19.100 Revocation of permit. The City Manager shall have the
power, for good cause shown, to revoke or suspend any game machine
operator's permit issued under this chapter. Failure to pay any
reconnect fee provided for in Section 5.19.086, or any conduct
deleterious to the public health, welfare or morals, and the existence
of any of the reasons for a denial of a permit as set forth in Section
5.19.050, shall each constitute good cause for suspension or
revocation. Any such suspension or revocation shall be subject to
appeal to the Mayor and City Council and the suspension or revocation
shall be stayed pending the hearing before the Mayor and City Council .
5.19.110 Permit in addition to business license or other permit.
The permit required under the terms of this chapter shall be in
addition and supplemental to any business license or any permit
required by any ordinance of the City.
5.19.120 Prohibited devices. Nothing in this chapter shall be
construed to permit the licensing, maintenance or operation of any
game machine which is forbidden by any state or local law or
regulation or to permit the operation of any game machine in such a
manner as to constitute gambling or otherwise be contrary to any such
state law or regulation.
5.19.130 Violation - Penalty. Any person violating any
provision of this chapter or failing to perform the duties imposed
hereunder is guilty of a misdemeanor, which upon conviction thereof is
punishable in accordance with the provisions of this Code.
L SECTION 2. EFFECTIVE DATE. This ordinance shall be in full force
and effect thirty (30) days after passage.
SECTION 3. POSTING. The City Clerk shall within 15 days after the
passage of this ordinance, cause it to be posted in at least the 3 public
places designated by resolution of the City Council ; shall certify to the
adoption and posting of this ordinance; and shall cause this ordinance and
its certification, together with proof of posting, to be entered in the
book of ordinances of this City.
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The foregoing ordinance was approved and adopted at a meeting of the
City Council held on December 7 , 1988 by the following vote:
Ayes: Councilmembers Di Grandi, Hillery, Krings, Murphy and
Mayor Hardie
IL
Noes: none
// / /
Absent: none 7‘/4
MA 0'
ATTEST
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APPROVED ASS TO FO : APPROVED/ TO ONTENT:
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CITY ATTORNEY I Y ANA ER
HEREBY CERTIFY, UNDER PENALTY OF PERJURY THAT THE
FOREGOING ORDINANCE NO. a� R WAS DULY AD1. • •,0
BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CATHEDRAL CITY,
CALIFORN .IN A MEETING THEREOF HELD ON THE
DAY OF ,198 8' AND THAT SAME WAS POSTED
IN AT LEAST THE THREE PUBLIC PLACES SPECIFIED FOR SUCH
POSTINGS, BY THE SAID CITY COUNCIL.
I0,/D�14)- ) .kl .e0.4)17
CITY CLERK
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