Tightening restrictions on internet cafés, Wildwood commissioners Monday approved a $6,000 initial operating permit fee that would double for establishments that want to locate in a commercial area.
Internet cafés, also known as adult arcades, skirt Florida gambling laws by offering prizes or cash for players who succeed at internet games. They have been a source of criminal activity.
The permit fees follow an earlier Wildwood ordinance that restricts café locations.
“We can’t prohibit them, but they are restricted to mostly industrial areas of the city,” said Melanie Peavy, the city’s development services director.
If a café wants to locate in an area zoned commercial, Peavy said it would owe another $6,000 for a conditional use permit, doubling the first-year cost.
After a year, permits may be renewed for three years at a cost of $3,000.
Like Sumter County, Wildwood, which has two internet cafes, also prohibits them within 2,500 feet of schools, churches, playgrounds or day care centers.
Under Sumter County rules, cafes must close between midnight and 8 a.m. and cafe customers are not allowed to loiter on the property during those hours. They also must hire security guards and install security systems.
During an 18-month period ending last fall, Sumter County’s 16 internet cafes generated more than 500 police calls, and sheriff’s deputies made 100 arrests and executed 36 warrants. Three of the businesses were robbed and most criminal activity occurred after midnight.