Carrboro is entering the debate over internet sweepstakes cafes and the town’s position is pretty entertaining. It looks as if the aldermen may regulate the location of the cafes via the land-use ordinance. Evidently the traffic generated by these cafes is a nuisance. The traffic generated by state-run gambling, however, is welcome. From the Chapel Hill News: (emphasis is mine)
The proposed land-use amendment would limit electronic gaming businesses primarily to the area around the Willow Creek and Carrboro Plaza shopping centers. Both are B-4 zoning districts that concentrate traffic-intensive businesses along major thoroughfares.
Internet sweepstakes cafés also could open in the town’s more industrial M-1 zoning districts. That would include both sides of Jones Ferry Road near OWASA and Barnes Street, and on South Greensboro Street near Merritt Mill Road.
Plus, sweepstakes cafés would have to be located at least 500 feet from the nearest dwelling and 1,000 feet from any other gaming operation. Their business hours would be limited to 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. seven days a week.
The amendment excludes N.C. Lottery outlets and nonprofit fundraisers.
This is a silly attempt to crack down on competition for the lottery and to regulate human behavior — and it is folly, as John Hood explains here.
