The Odessa City Council voted 6-1 Tuesday night to amend the city’s game room ordinance again, allowing game room owners and operators to keep more than 50 machines if they had more than 50 prior to May 1.
The council also voted to amend the ordinance so that moving forward, new game rooms will no longer be able to have tint of any kind on their windows.
Back on May 1, the council amended the existing game room ordinance because of the proliferation of game rooms throughout the city. The new ordinance states new game rooms can’t operate within 1,500 feet of each other or neighborhoods, churches and schools. The council also decided game rooms can only be located in light or heavy industrial areas, have more than 50 machines or have door or window coverings that prevent officers from being able to see their operations from the outside.
The council voted to allow existing game rooms to operate under the old ordinance when it came to locations and zoning areas, but did not “grandfather” in the businesses when it came to tints and the number of machines until Tuesday night.
Should existing businesses allow their business licenses to lapse, be suspended or revoked, they will no longer be grandfathered. Nor will those businesses that change their names or begin to operate under a new owner.
Game rooms were placed on the agenda at the request of defense attorney Bobby Bland, who said several of his clients believe the game room ordinance is being applied inconsistently by Odessa police officers. While he is happy to argue in court on behalf of his clients, Bland said they thought it would be a good idea to bring the matter to the city attorney and city council, he said.
In other matters, the council voted unanimously to adopt a new five-year plan for the city’s parks and recreation department, which Director Steve Patton said will soon be posted on the city’s website.
The five-year plan sets five goals. The goals include having parks equally distributed throughout the city, providing a diverse and equitable range of programs throughout the city, provide safe and accessible trails that are in harmony with the area’s natural resources and to ensure the park system is fiscally sustainable.
During a city council work study session last week, Aaron Tuley of HALFF engineers recommended the city create a new 100-acre plus sports complex to address a serious lack of parks within Odessa.
Tuley said the city has 3.9 acres of parks for every 1,000 residents compared to 14.8 acres per every 1,000 acres in Amarillo.
Tuley estimated such a complex would cost $28 million to $40 million, plus the cost of the land.
The engineer also said the city needs 11 more softball fields and additional football and soccer fields. The city also needs to invest in improving conditions at its existing parks, noting many of its parks have been given a grade of “C,” he said.
Patton noted Tuesday that Tuley never mentioned an important aspect of the five-year plan and that is it is sustainable and will provide a quality of life that will encourage people to make Odessa a permanent place for families to live.
The council also voted 6-1 to enter into purchase agreements with Sewell Ford and Rush Truck Centers of Dallas for new vehicles, which won’t arrive for 12-24 months because of chip shortage issues. All told, the expenditures will be roughly $1,010, 274.
Council member Steve Thompson voted against the motion, stating he would rather have spent all of the money with Sewell Ford because they are a local business.
