While Fort Lauderdale officials haven't seen a problem with Internet sweepstakes cafes in their city, commissioners Thursday directed staff to put together an ordinance restricting them for the commission to discuss in February.
City Manager Lee Feldman said there are currently two sweepstakes cafes operating in the city and a third that is closed and for sale. There have been only two police-related incidents reported at the establishments since January 2010, he said.
"The real problem of Internet cafes are in Central Florida and the Panhandle area, because they don't have other gaming activities," Feldman said. Broward County already has several casinos and race tracks.
Vice Mayor Bobby DuBose said the city shouldn't wait for the sweepstakes cafes to become a problem before acting.
"I think we should do something to get ahead of the curve," DuBose said.
Fort Lauderdale commissioners also said they didn't want destination casinos in their city and plan to pass a resolution later this month urging the Legislature to reject "any and all expansion of gambling, including legislation to legalize 'destination casinos' in Florida."
–Jim Saunders, News Service of Florida, and FlaglerLive
Source Article
