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Township plans to close two illegal Internet cafés
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - July 26, 2012)
Township plans to close two illegal Internet cafés
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
Chardon Township officials seek to shut down two illegal Internet café operations in the township.
“It’s something I think we should put a kibosh to,” Township Zoning Inspector Donald Mohney said.
Mr. Mohney told township trustees last week that he received correspondence from the Geauga County Prosecutor’s office of the two operations after the state conducted an audit of Internet cafes.
“There are five in the county, two of which are illegal, and we have both of them,” he said.
Internet cafes are a relatively new type of business that sell phone cards or computer time. Customers are entered in sweepstakes and can use computers to win more time on them or more sweepstake tickets.
All operations in the state operating before June 11 were required to complete an affidavit of existence by July 11. The requirement is part of Amended Substitute House Bill 386, which puts a moratorium on any new electronic sweepstake parlors or Internet cafes.
Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine announced July 12 that his office received 667 affidavits from those businesses. The number is twice as many as an earlier total of 280 tallied statewide by the Ohio Attorney General’s Office in March.
Among them are two in Chardon Township. Mr. Mohney said he attempted to contact owners of the Little Eagle Drive-Thru Beverage and Yop’s Time Out Grille, which were identified as having responded to the state audit. He said he was unable to reach either owner, but confirmed they have machines that are not approved by the township.
Both are at the intersection of Auburn and Chardon (U.S. 6) roads in the township’s commercial zone. Internet cafes are not included in the township’s zoning code and, as such, are not permitted, said Mr. Mohney, who expressed concern in a joint letter with Mr. DeWine about the operations.
“These Internet cafes are multiplying at an alarming rate, and I again am encouraging the Ohio General Assembly to act swiftly to regulate them with the same scrutiny as other forms of gaming in Ohio,” Mr. DeWine wrote. ‘Ohioans currently have no way of knowing that these games are what the cafes report them to be or if they are being completely ripped off by the owners.”
Mr. DeWine wrote that the “huge number of parlors” are capable of generating hundreds of millions of dollars of unregulated cash. “Since there is no state regulation, licensing or oversight, there is no way to determine who is getting the money, where the money is going, whether any of these operators are felons or whether any other criminal activity is funded by the proceeds.”
Mr. Mohney said the businesses have two options, although neither is likely to produce the results in which the owners may hope. Owners could seek a zoning variance or a zoning change, neither of which he believes would be successful. The commission considered including Internet cafes in zoning about two years ago, but decided against it.
He said he likely will advise both to save their money rather than attempt to go through either process. The fee for a zoning variance is $1,250, with $750 refundable if a variance is granted. Requests for zoning changes can require a $3,000 fee, with $2,000 of it refundable.
Trustee Chairman Michael Brown said Mr. Mohney simply should inform the two businesses that the operations are not allowed under zoning. Both businesses, Yop’s Time Out Grille, now Maple City, and Little Eagle Drive-Thru, declined comment for the story.
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