Public Hearing - Chapter 12, Occupational Licenses, Taxes and Regulations of the Code of Ordinances.

20 Feb 2019 - Review of the public hearing regarding Chapter 12 of the Code of Ordinances. 

     During this weeks Copperas Cove City Council Meeting, we had a public hearing/action regarding an update to and review of changes to our Code of Ordinances, Chapter 12 - Occupational Licenses, Taxes and Regulations. Just before the meeting, there was a lot of commotion and concern built up from not only Copperas Cove citizens, but artists all over Texas who enjoy performing in Copperas Cove. I personally saw it talked about from San Antonio to Dallas. So - lets dive in! 

     For years, our Police Department has been trying to shutdown illegal gambling activity in Copperas Cove. Not only are these a problem because they are, well....illegal gambling...but they also bring in crime. Often times, they hold a large amount of cash onsite which invites robbery/theft, and narcotics. For example, in March 2017, the Gold Rush internet cafe formerly located on S. 2nd St. had two incidents with burglary and theft, with over $7,000 stolen. You also see these places bring about/create gambling addicts which bring on a whole world of problems on their own. With all that in mind, these establishments have been a priority item for CCPD to stay on top of. They've had a pretty good success rate at shutting down problem businesses, but there are a few that have found loop holes in the wording of the local ordinance.  That has caused CCPD to re-evaluate the wording of the ordinance, after receiving approval from City Council. They were removing older terms for types of shows we do not see anymore and adding some terms to provide a blanket for businesses who want to try and find loop holes. 

        This brings us to this week. Sgt O'Neal with CCPD has brought the revised ordinance (click for a link to the ordinance) forward to the council and citizens for public comment, consideration, and action by the council. Sgt O'Neal's opening statement was that this is "not geared for local business owners", but rather towards "illegal gambling institutions". The entire intent behind this ordinance is to regulate Game Rooms, Amusement Redemption Machines, and traveling entertainment such as circuses and rodeos that may require use of city property, resources, or personnel (traffic control, for example).  Some examples that this is not, nor has it ever been intended by the city to go after: Dominos holding military appreciation events in which they give out free pizza / FUBAR hosting midget wrestling, or artistic dancers to bring in more patrons / Local restaurants wanting to bring in musicians during peak dinner hours / anything that the Copperas Cove Art Guild wants to host. Those are just some examples, but hopefully you get the idea. 

     After Sgt O'Neal gave his opening brief about the ordinance revision, things turned to the floor for citizen discussion with the council and Sgt O'Neal. There was a line of speakers, but it was opened up with (I believe) the head of our Chamber of Commerce. She stated that while this is a great ordinance to have, the way it is worded it COULD be used against local business owners trying to bring in entertainment to promote their business. "Please tighten up the broad language allowing the city to go after business owners for fee's and/or permits". Once she was done with her speech, Fred Chavez told her that he would like a copy of her speech and some of the changes she would like to have made to the ordinance. For the eloquence of a speech that she gave, he would hate to see it wasted because he/they forgot some of the things she brought up.  All of the speakers behind her said that she pretty much hit all the talking points that they had, so they yielded back. 

     Sgt O'Neal followed up the public comment by saying that the scope of the ordinance is not geared or sought after local business owners, as it says in the opening. 
-Fred Chavez responded that there is room for ambiguity, which is not preferred. He agrees with the speaker that they should get in there and tighten up some of the language. 
-Charlie Youngs followed up "lets not set an environment to drive out businesses", we should be "encouraging growth". 
 -Sgt O'Neal said this is all wording from the 1970's, and we haven't been going after local business owners yet because that was never the intention. He's not opposed to changing this to a game room ordinance so that we don't go stagnant on the game rooms that he is trying to address around town.     
-The City Attorney then chimed in with a long list of tips to change up the wording to improve the language. 
-Charlie Youngs brought up that he would be ok if they pulled 12-81 for now to allow work with the terminology while still allowing the PD to push forward with what they need to do about the game rooms. After some back and forth on the idea, the city council finally agreed to push forward with the Gameroom updates, but hold back section 12-81 for further review. 

     So - long story short - the city never intended to go after local business owners with this ordinance unless they were operating game rooms/machines. But, to hold true to that intention and put the local business owners at ease, they will be improving the language in the ordinance to protect local business owners. We will update you as more information comes out.