[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council
of the Town of Sykesville as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 11-9-1982 by Ord. No. 128]
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A machine operated by the insertion of a coin, slug or disc
token. Such machine or machines dispense or are used or are capable
of being used or operated for amusement or pleasure, or when such
machines are operated for the purpose of dispensing or affording skill
or pleasure or any other purpose other than the dispensing or vending
of merchandise or music or service exclusively as those terms are
defined in the ordinance. The following are expressly included within
said terms: marble machines, marble table machines, marble shoot,
pinball machines, skill ball, miniature racetrack machines, miniature
football machines, miniature golf machines, miniature bowling machines
and all other coin-operated gaming machines which dispense or afford
skill or pleasure. This definition does not include coin-operated
pool tables.
All machines or devices which dispense services or merchandise
only and are not for skill or pleasure.
Proprietor, lessee, or employee who is in direct control
of the premises where coin-operated machines are located and who had
filed with the Town Manager.
[Amended 6-11-2007 by Ord. No. 268]
Any persons, individual, firm, company, association or corporation
owning or having the care, control, management, or possession of any
such coin-operated gaming machines in the Town of Sykesville, Maryland.
A building, or any part of a building where coin-operated
gaming machines are located.
A.
No person shall maintain, display for public patronage
or otherwise keep for operation by the public any coin-operated gaming
machine without first obtaining a license issued under the terms and
conditions of this article.
B.
No license is required for any individual to own,
maintain, or offer for use to the public any coin-operated pleasure
or amusement machines designed exclusively for use by children under
the age of 10 years, such as coin-operated riding machines and other
related coin-operated machines.
C.
No machine shall be licensed if it is to be located
on a second floor or below ground level, and all machines shall be
visible from the street or outside the premises as determined by the
Zoning Administrator.
D.
No license shall be issued for any temporary structures
outside of a building, or for any mobile trailer specifically designed
for display or use for the public.
E.
At all times during the hours of operation of the
licensed premises, there shall be present one of the operators who
has filed the required application information with the Town Manager
and is at least 18 years of age in order to provide adequate control
and supervision of the licensed premises and the use of coin-operated
amusement devices present therein.
[Amended 6-11-2007 by Ord. No. 268]
F.
Upon a change of an operator conducting business for
the licensee, the licensee shall appear before the Town Manager or
give the Town Manager written notice, by registered or certified mail,
of a change of operator. The licensee shall provide the information
concerning the new operator on the form provided by the Town Manager.
After the new operator has met all the requirements of this article,
approval or denial by the Zoning Administrator will follow within
10 regular working days.
[Amended 6-11-2007 by Ord. No. 268]
Licenses issued under this article:
A.
Become effective upon approval of application and
payment of fee.
B.
Are annual licenses which expire one year from the
date of issuance, unless suspended or canceled earlier.
C.
Vest no property right in the licensee except to maintain,
display for public patronage, and permit the use for skill or pleasure
of coin-operated gaming machines in accordance with the terms and
conditions of this article.
[Amended 9-27-2004 by Ord. No. 247]
A.
Every owner who owns, controls, possesses, exhibits,
displays, or who permits to be exhibited or displayed in this Town
any coin-operated gaming machine shall pay for, and there is hereby
levied on each coin-operated gaming machine, an annual license fee
of $100 and $50 each additional machine.
B.
No part of any license fee shall be refundable for
any portion of the licensed year.
C.
A fee for processing an application shall be $15,
paid at the time of application, which is not refundable. Upon approval,
the processing fee shall be credited toward the license fee.
E.
The fee for a replacement license shall be $10.
[Amended 9-27-2004 by Ord. No. 247]
Gas meters, pay telephones, food vending machines,
confection-vending machines, merchandise-vending machines, beverage-vending
machines, cigarette-vending machines, stamp-vending machines and service
coin-operated machines, as that term is defined, are expressly exempt
from the fee levied herein.
The license shall be permanently and conspicuously
posted at the location of the coin-operated gaming machines in the
premises wherein said machines are to be operated or maintained to
be operated during the period for which said license was issued.
[Amended 6-11-2007 by Ord. No. 268]
A.
An applicant for a license under the provisions of
this article shall file with the Town Manager (or any other staff
member who may be designated by the Town Manager) a written application
on a form provided for that purpose which shall be signed by the applicant,
who shall be the owner of the business sought to be licensed. A separate
application must be filed for each location sought to be licensed.
The following information shall be supplied by the applicant:
(1)
Name, including the trade name by which the applicant
does business, address, and the telephone number of the applicant
and if incorporated, the registered name, and the street address of
the premises.
(2)
Name, address, and telephone number of the operators
of the premises to be licensed.
(3)
Number of coin-operated amusement devices in the premises
to be licensed and serial numbers of each machine.
(4)
Whether a previous license of applicant, or if applicant
is a corporation, corporate officer of applicant, has been revoked
or denied within two years preceding filing of the application.
(5)
A statement that all the facts contained in application
are true.
(6)
Any other information deemed relevant or necessary
by the Zoning Administrator.
B.
Names of all individuals, persons who at any time
will be the operator of the premises must be included on the application
forms provided by the Town Manager (or any other staff member who
may be designated by the Town Manager).
The Zoning Administrator shall refuse to approve
issuance or renewal of a license for one or more of the following
reasons:
A.
A false statement as to a material matter in an application
for a license.
B.
Revocation of a license, pursuant to this article,
of the applicant or corporate officer of the applicant within two
years preceding the filing of the application.
C.
The applicant for such licenses has, within the past
10 years, been convicted of a crime involving moral turpitude.
The Zoning Administrator shall not issue or
renew a license under this article and shall suspend or cancel a license
if it be determined that the applicant or license is indebted to the
Town for any fee, costs, penalties, or delinquent taxes.
[Amended 6-11-2007 by Ord. No. 268]
A replacement license may be issued for one
lost, destroyed, or mutilated, upon application on a form provided
by the Town Manager (or any other staff member who may be designated
by the Town Manager). A replacement license shall bear the same number
as the one it replaces and shall have the word "replacement" appear
on the front of the license.
A license issued under the provisions of this
article shall not be assignable or transferable.
No licensee, by himself, directly or indirectly,
or by any operator, agent or employee shall:
A.
Permit any indecent, immoral or profane language,
or indecent, immoral, or disorderly conduct.
B.
Permit the licensed premises to become a resort for
disorderly persons of any type.
C.
Permit gambling or the use, possession, presence of
gambling paraphernalia in the premises. The winning of anything of
value as a result of the operation of a machine shall constitute gambling.
However, the winning of a prize that does not exceed $100 in value
in a scheduled tournament shall not constitute gambling.
D.
Permit intoxicated persons to loiter on the premises.
F.
Permit the possession or use of any alcoholic beverage
on the premises, nor shall the licensed premises be accessible in
any way to anywhere alcoholic liquor is kept, sold, distributed, or
given away. This provision shall not apply while a liquor license
is in effect at the licensed premises.
G.
Permit the possession or use of any unlawful drug
or narcotic, including marijuana, on the premises.
H.
Permit unusual noise or music to emerge from the licensed
premises.
I.
Permit littering around exterior of the said premises.
A licensee herein shall provide sufficient bicycle
storage racks so as to adequately provide for the storage of bicycles
utilized by patrons of the permitted premises if such racks be needed
as determined by the Zoning Administrator.
If any individual, company, corporation, or
association who owns, operates, exhibits, or displays any coin-operated
gaming machines in the Town of Sykesville shall violate any provision
of this article, the Zoning Administrator shall have the power and
the authority to cancel all licenses issued hereunder to any of the
foregoing by giving written notice, stating the reason justifying
such cancellation, and the same shall be canceled 10 days from the
date of such notice. No license shall be issued within a period of
one year to anyone whose license has been canceled, except at the
discretion of the Board of Zoning Appeals.
If the Zoning Administrator refuses to approve
the issuance of a license or the renewal of a license to the applicant,
or cancels a license or the renewal of a license to an applicant,
or cancels a license issued under this article, this action is final
unless the applicant or licensee, within 30 days after the receipt
of written notice of the action, files a written appeal with the Zoning
Administrator and with the Board of Zoning Appeals. The Board will
consider all the evidence in support of or against the action appealed,
and render a decision, either sustaining or reversing the action.
No skill or pleasure coin-operated machines
in an arcade shall be permitted to be placed within 300 feet of any
church, hospital, nursing home, public library, or school in the Town
of Sykesville.
Any owner who desires a license for the operation of more than three coin-operated gaming machines in one specific location shall be subject to all requirements of Chapter 180, Zoning, and shall if determined by the Zoning Administrator provide bicycle racks.
The premises in which such coin-operated gaming
machines are located may be entered upon by the Zoning Administrator
at any time during normal business hours for the purpose of inspecting
said premises for violations of the terms of this article. All law
enforcement personnel with jurisdiction shall have the right to enter
into said premises at any time during normal business hours for the
purpose of enforcement of the terms of this article.
Nothing herein shall be construed to have the
effect to license, permit, authorize, or legalize any machine, device,
table, or coin-operated gaming machine, the keeping, exhibition, operation,
display or maintenance of which is now illegal or in violation of
any ordinance of the Town of Sykesville, any article of Penal Code
of this state, or of the Constitution of the state.
Any licensee may substitute one machine for
a similar machine, by applying to the Zoning Administrator for permission
to make the exchange and supplying all the information required for
a substitute license. The new machine shall be described in the license
as a substitute machine. A filing fee of $10 is levied for a license
on a substitute machine.
[Amended 9-27-2004 by Ord. No. 247]
