The Odessa City Council will consider several measures to clamp down on the proliferation of game rooms, including limiting hours of operation and locations where they can operate.
Council will consider the proposed ordinance changes during their work session.
“Along with police department, we’re making these recommendations because game rooms are not even addressed in our zoning ordinance,” Planning Director Randy Brinlee said. “Many of these places run 24 hours a day, there’s no regulations.”
Under the proposed amendment changes, games room hours of operation would be limited to 8 a.m. to 11 p.m., Monday through Thursday, and 8 a.m. to midnight Friday through Sunday.
Several residents earlier this year cited the growing number of game rooms in Odessa as a major concern during a town hall meeting with Mayor Javier Joven.
At the time, Joven promised residents that he would work with the city’s legal department and administrators to address their concerns.
Joven could not be reached for further comment on Monday.
The revamped ordinance would prohibit game rooms from being located within 1,000 feet of another gaming establishment, church, educational institution, healthcare facilities public building or the boundary line of a residential zoning district, Brinlee said.
An exemption will be granted to any gaming operations that can offer proof that the business has operated at the same site, and under the same name and ownership prior to Dec. 1, 2021, according to the proposed amendment changes.
New game rooms will only be considered in areas already zoned light industrial and heavy industrial districts. The businesses will also be required to have 30 paved parking spaces plus one space for every one hundred square feet of floor area over 2,000 square feet.
