HITCHCOCK, Texas — The city commission is considering issuing a moratorium on permits for 8-liners and possibly regulated game rooms in the city.
At least one commissioner wants to rid the city of game rooms or at least highly restrict their operations, which have earned Hitchcock the nickname "The Little Strip."
City Commissioner Lee Stephenson is pushing for the moratorium as a precursor to the city developing an ordinance to regulate video game terminals that are similar to video slot machines. The ordinance also would have rules for game rooms. The only rule the city has authorizes an annual permit fee of $100 per machine as part of the city’s amusements ordinance.
"When I filed to run for commissioner, I heard from citizens who are concerned about the appearance of the Highway 6 corridor," Stephenson, who is a Texas City police officer, said. "I am all for economic development. I am all for businesses as long as it is operating legitimately."
The game machines, though, are big money for the city as well as the game room operators. Hitchcock Mayor Anthony Matranga estimated the city takes in about $67,000 a year in revenues from the game permits alone.
As many as 11 game rooms operate in the city. Six operate within a 1-mile stretch of state Highway 6 between FM 519 and FM 2004, earning the area the nickname "The Little Strip," a reference to the Las Vegas Strip, Stephenson said.
"The reason they are here is because people know they can operate here, operate illegally and make big money," he said.
Stephenson had the backing of longtime Hitchcock Commissioner Henry Coger, who said he too opposes the unregulated game rooms.
Both commissioners said their efforts to check on the game rooms were thwarted by operators.
Coger said he was asked to leave two of the game rooms when operators found out he was a city commissioner. Stephenson said he was denied entry into six of the city’s game rooms when he stopped by to inform operators of the proposed ordinance and find out more information about how the businesses operate.
As is the norm for most game rooms in the county, access is granted only after being "buzzed in" through a security door, and some of the operations require membership to come in. Stephenson said he was told by the game rooms he visited that they were not taking any more members.
He said he left his card at all the game rooms asking that the operators call him to discuss the moratorium and possible regulations. As of Monday, no one had contacted him, Stephenson said.
While Matranga too supports "updating our ordinances," he wants to be cautious about it and was quick to point out that the city’s ordinances are in compliance with state laws. In addition to possibly reducing the revenue the game rooms generate for the city, Matranga warned that regulations that are too restrictive "would leave a lot of empty buildings" along Hitchcock’s main thoroughfare.
"And that won’t look good, either," Matranga said.
Law enforcement officials have been frustrated in efforts to shut down illegal gambling dens. Although owning the 8-liner machines isn’t illegal, paying more than $5 per win is. The law, meant to regulate games like those where players try to grab a stuffed animal with a metal crane, says as long as the prize is worth less than 10 times the cost to play, or $5, the game is allowed.
Game rooms across the county have been the targets of robbers, and there have been at least two deaths in the county related to game room holdups in the last three years.
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