CC MINUTES 09221987 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 made from their arcades in '_ their locations. The Councilmember 2 said he didn' t perceive that was anything against their management, 3 but did think that was a problem the City would be facing once they 4 approve this arcade for the City. He responded to the statements 5 about closing the schools, by saying he perceived the City' s position 6 was a lot different because the school district can fire a teacher 7 who allows smoking in school, while the City has no other recourse 8 than to review the permit once a year and try to revoke the licenses 9 if there are problems which "is almost impossible to do. " 10 Heilicher Says His Company Couldn' t Afford to Keep Problem Amusement 11 Devices 12 Mr. Heilicher pointed out that the City of Blaine had for the first 3 13 or 4 years reviewed the permit he had for his arcade in Northtown 14 until they realized the type of establishment they were running. He 15 added his firm was well aware of what the ramifications were for a 16 conditional use permit. He assured the Councilmember that if at the 17 end of the year his company perceived a pool table or some type of 18 game was causing a problem, they would never let the situation fester 19 because they have a financial stake in their lease in the center and 20 without a conditional use permit the costs of improving that space, 21 etc. would be lost to them. The arcade representative pointed out 22 that "we would not be in as many locations as we are if we did not 23 operate and control good establishments. " Mr. Heilicher pointed out 4 that if the bowling alley, which "serves beer and allows smoking in 5 the areas where games are played is allowed licenses, then we should 26 be allowed licenses. " 27 Marks Wonders Where City Youths Are Going to Gather 28 The Councilmember said his own observations about this issue had 29 been: 30 that because of the great fears parents have for their own and 31 other children when it comes to experimentation with sex, drugs, 32 and alcohol, they might have unfairly characterized any esta- 33 blishment where youths hang out as encouraging the most extreme 34 of those activities; 35 it might have been because those who organized the various types 36 of teen centers in the City in the past might not have known how 37 to set up the right programs or how to supervise the centers, 38 resulting in their failure; 39 that as a result of these failures the only teen center left was 40 one which, although he knew there had been problems, had not 41 been as bad as he at first expected them to be; 42 said the only institutionalized gathering place for kids which 43 remains are the church youth centers in which many of the kids 4 refuse to participate; 12