Play Meter

Letters to
the editor • • •
Model ordinances
Being clo ely attached to the coin
machine industry, I have been interested in
the que tion or problem of regulation of
game rooms, particularl y by local munici-
palitie , through licen ing or other mean .
I have read the articles which appear in
Play Meter from time to time .
Man y people , either as concerned
citizens, people involved in local govern-
ment , or merely for conver ation , have
a ked me what type of regulation would be
reaso nable and acceptable. Although I
have attempted to answer the questions, I
have really been omewhat stumped when
the y have asked for an example of a model
ordinance .
Many cities ha ve pas ed ordinances and
people in the industry have been quick to
criticize tho e which are offensive but, to
my knowledge, nobod y has proposed an
alternate acceptable ordinance . To a
certain extent, citie which pas ordinance
intending to regulate the busi ne ha ve
made them offensive or confiscatory
inadvertently, not ha ving sufficient input
a to what might be accepted . (Obvio u ly,
to a certain extent, orne of the ordinances
have been de igned to be sufficientl y offer-
sive to make the operation of a ga me room
difficult or impractical , too .)
If yo u have any examples of ordinances
which are rea onable and acceptable for
the purpo e of regulating the busi ne
while not de tro yi ng it , I would appreciate
it if yo u might uppl y co pie to me. I think ,
on a nationwide basis, it would make more
sense for pecple in the indu try to c ream
les after offen ive legislation was passed
by cooperating with city councils before·
uch ordinance are adopted a nd pro-
vidi ng tho e legi lative bodie with a mod el
ordinance under who e term the bu iness
can survive while all interested partie are
reasonably satisfied .
Name withheld upo n requ est
(Ed. Note: A number of groups have been
developing model ordinances. Among
them are the Amusement Device Manufac-
turers Association and the Ohio Music and
Amusement Association. I'm sure any one
PLAY METE R, Ju ly 15, 1982
of these organizations would be more than
willing to share their information with
anyone who needs it .
tiona/ problems. On this one, we all need to
work together.]
We would also like ro encourage any
others who have been successful in dealing
with local ordinances to share their ex-
periences with our readers. Too many peo-
ple look on such problems as local prob-
lems, but in reality, they are industry prob-
lems that we must solve. If operators faced
with regulation problems can see ho w
others have successfully dealt with similar
problems, the beffer off they and the in-
dustry will be.
Local problems are everywhere. And as
such, are nor really local problems, bw na-
Kudos to Welu
He did it again! ... a nd I comp liment Dick
Welu' unerring accuracy in choosi ng the
real video game "winner" ( ee Play Meter,
June I, 1982 isue) .
As always. hi article was th oroug hl y
enjoyed .
Fred ko r
World Wide D istribut ors Inc.
C hicago, Illino is
P .S. I. too . used to think I understood thi
busine .
Audio VisuGI
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