(A) Bowling alleys.
(1) No person shall own or operate any bowling alley within the city without first obtaining a license to do so.
(2) The City Clerk shall issue a license under this subsection after the applicant pays the sum of $5 for each bowling lane. That license shall expire one year from the date of its issuance.
(B) Amusement devices.
(1) No person shall own, keep, control, manage, exhibit or display any:
(a) Manually, electrically or mechanically operated game, unit, instrument, machine or equipment, including but not limited to video games or machines, board games or machines and equipment or devices of any other character used in connection with games of skill, for sport or for entertainment;
(b) Coin or token operated table, game, device, machine, instrument or equipment used in connection with games of skill, for sport or for entertainment, including music machines, but excepting merchandise or supply vending machines which give full value in merchandise or supplies for the token or coin placed therein without first having obtained a license for those devices under this section.
(2) No person shall operate, exhibit or display any of the games, devices, equipment, instruments or machines coming under the provisions of subsection (B)(1) without first having secured a license from the City Controller. The application for a license shall contain the following information:
(a) The name and address of the owner of such amusement device;
(b) The place where the device is to be operated, exhibited, displayed or given spaces for public patronage;
(c) The name of the operator of that place;
(d) The name and address of the owner or lessee of that place;
(e) Whether the owner of the amusement device and the operator of that place have ever been convicted for a violation of any city ordinance except traffic offenses or state law and specifying the nature and dates of those convictions, if any.
(3) The license fees under this section for each licensed unit shall be $25 per year, except music boxes, for which the license fee shall be $10 per year. These permits shall continue in effect for one year from the date of their issuance and shall be continuously displayed in a prominent place near the game, device or machine for which it was issued. No license shall be transferred from one person to another person without the consent of the City Controller first having been obtained. No license shall be transferred from one place to another. No license shall be transferred from one amusement device to another without the consent of the City Controller first having been obtained.
(4) Every license issued under this section is subject to the right of revocation under I.C. 36-4-5-5.
(5) No licensed game, table, machine or device shall be displayed or used for public patronage in any building within 350 feet of any entrance to any elementary, secondary or high school building.
(6) Nothing in this section is intended or shall be construed as authorizing or permitting the operation or exhibition or any gambling device or game which is not or hereafter may be prohibited by law.
(C) Penalty. Any person who violates any provision of this section shall be deemed to have committed an ordinance violation and, upon conviction, shall be fined as set forth in § 10.99. Each day a violation occurs or continues shall constitute a separate offense.
(1985 Code, § 36-8-2-10) (Ord. passed 9-20-1989; Am. Ord. passed 9-20-1989; Am. Ord. passed 10-3-1899; Am. Ord. 17-1935, passed 1-7-1936; Am. Ord. 8-1949, passed 6-7-1949; Am. Ord. 3-1981, passed 3-19-1981)
Statutory reference:
Regulation of businesses and professions, see I.C. 36-8-2-10