In the wake of a controversial move to establish a bingo hall in Wildwood, city commissioners have slapped a moratorium on bingo.
“We are just not ready to move ahead with bingo at this time,” Mayor Ed Wolf said.
Michael Salerno wants to operate a bingo operation in the Sav-A-Lot mall in Wildwood. He said he has leased the property and put money into improving it. He believed he had received the green light from both the city and the Sumter County.
For five years, Salerno operated a bingo hall in Leesburg. But that city recently adopted a more restrictive ordinance governing bingo.
So he looked to Wildwood to set up his new operation.
Salerno filed an application for a bingo hall with Wildwood, but later pulled that application, instead filing an application for a “hall for hire.”
Salerno said he plans to continue the fight to set up his bingo operation in Wildwood.
The moratorium doesn’t impact existing charitable bingo games operated by churches and civic organizations.
