WINTER GARDEN, Fla. — No one has asked to move Internet gaming parlors into Winter Garden and city leaders want to keep it that way, but can a new law keep them out?
Winter Garden is a self-described modern-day Mayberry. One of the things that you won't find there are "simulated" slot machines. If the city adopts a new ordinance, you won't.
"What these businesses do is, under the guise of Internet sells and phone sells, they're really operating gambling operations. These organizations think they've found a loophole in the law. That's still questionable and we don't think that's appropriate for the city of Winter Garden," city manager Michael Bollhoefer said.
The city says there's no current business that would be impacted by the proposed ordinance, but the point is to get the ordinance in place before a business like an Internet cafe decided to open up shop.
"I can see the concern as far as what other types of activity it would bring into our town. I look at it like we all play the lotto, a lot of us do. I really don't see a difference," Winter Garden resident Jane Griffith said.
Operators of businesses with the machines say they don't involve gambling. They claim to operate sweepstakes with a pre-determined winner for customers who purchase phone or Internet time; the machines simply reveal the winner.
Law enforcement says the businesses can bring in $50,000 per week, or more, and that concerns the city of Winter Garden, which proposes to ban electronic or mechanical devices that require the insertion of money, passcodes, tokens or cards. If businesses can still sell Internet or phone time without them, they'd still be welcome in Winter Garden.
Winter Garden will have the first reading on its proposed ordinance Thursday night.
Seminole County commissioners are considering a similar ordinance. Cities and local governments are coming up with their own because state law makes it hard to stop them from operating.
The businesses operate under the state's "Sweepstakes Law." Even though gaming machines at cafes can look like slot machines, prizes are paid based on predetermined sweepstakes like those used by McDonald's, which are perfectly legal in Florida.
WFTV
