Poker rooms are not permitted in downtown Oxford’s C-1 Central Business District.
By a 5-0 vote Monday night, the village Zoning Board of Appeals determined that the nature and use of the Texas Hold’em poker room proposed by Oxford resident Rick Lovely does not meet the intent of the C-1 ordinance.
‘To me, I’m seeing more similarities to uses allowed in the C-2 District than I am in the C-1 District,? said ZBA member Sue McGinnis.
Lovely and his partners sought a formal interpretation from the ZBA as to whether or not their proposed ‘The King of Clubs Poker Parlor? could be opened at 18 N. Washington St. (the former Oxford Antique Mall), which is located in the primarily retail C-1 District.
The proposed card room would host state-licensed Texas Hold’em poker events for nonprofit organizations, which would essentially lease the facility and receive 50 percent of the gross in return. Lovely told the ZBA he planned to be open four days a week from 4 p.m. until whenever each individual time-dated charitable gaming license expired.
‘After November, if things are going well, we would like to be open six to seven days a week,? he said.
Because poker (or card) rooms are not specifically listed as a permitted principal or special use in the C-1 District and they are such a new concept in general, an interpretation from the ZBA was necessary.
ZBA members felt a poker room does not fit with the intent of the C-1 District, which, according to the ordinance, ‘occupies the prime retail frontage areas of the village.?
‘Permitted uses should be complementary to each other,? according to the C-1 ordinance’s statement of intent. ‘It is the further intent of this district to prohibit . . . non-retail uses which tend to interfere with the continuity of retail frontage.?
‘Does it meet the intent of the ordinance? That sentence right there says it does not,? said local developer/downtown property owner Dave Weckle, who expressed his opposition to the poker room.
The ZBA agreed. ‘An ordinance cannot say something that it doesn’t say,? said ZBA member Joe Bullen. ‘We have that going on in Detroit and we have it going on in Washington and Lansing, but it shouldn’t trickle down here.?
Bullen noted ‘we should try to live with the ordinances? the village has put in place.
‘It’s council’s duty, if they want the ordinance changed, to do that through the proper process,? he said.
McGinnis made the argument that a poker room really belongs in the C-2 General Business District because it ‘clearly calls out private indoor recreation uses? such as bowling alleys and billiard halls.
‘To me, being open part-time where you are technically leasing your facility to a charitable organization (four) nights a week reminds me of a banquet hall,? she said.
Banquet halls, fraternal organizations and meeting halls are permitted in the C-2 District.
Lovely tried to argue that when he requested an interpretation from the ZBA his ‘original intent? was to open a ‘snack shop/deli with Texas Hold’em as (a) secondary use,? which is indicated on his Feb. 8 application to the village.
‘The reason we picked King of Clubs (for the name) is because of the deli ? it was club sandwich,? he told the ZBA.
Lovely said a deli would be permitted in the C-1 District and ‘the Michigan Gaming Commission allows the playing of this game (Texas Hold’em) within bars and restaurants.?
‘I don’t know how we could look at this as a restaurant or tavern,? McGinnis said. ‘To me, the deli is a snack bar available for the card players.?
‘The fact that you’re selling sandwiches I don’t think is enough overall to outweigh the other things that relate to the C-2 District,? she noted.
Lovely noted that despite selling beverages and food, CC’s Cyber Cafe is a ?21st century video arcade,? which ‘was allowed in C-1,? even though arcades are supposed to be in the C-2 District with special approval.
Lovely submitted a petition supporting his proposed poker room, which appeared to be signed by 30 downtown business owners. He claimed it represented 90 percent.
Weckle was skeptical. ‘I’m surprised that 90 percent of the business owners have signed that. I find that amazing because I know several that have not and that’s more than 10 percent.?
The only thing heard from the business community at the meeting was opposition.
‘This type of business does not enhance commerce in the downtown,? wrote Tonya Panchula and Angela McLean, owners of the Ink & Paper Invitation Studio, which is located next door to the site of the proposed poker room. ‘A subdivided building with card table and chairs and tinted windows hardly adds to the image of a vibrant downtown.?
Ron and Wendy Brabo, owners of A&A Flower Shop, also indicated their opposition stating it would attract ‘undesirable elements to our area. ‘A poker parlor with drinking, carousing gamblers certainly wouldn’t add to the feeling of a safe, small town place to go for a stroll,? the Brabos wrote.
Bullen indicated to Lovely that if he wishes to appeal the ZBA’s decision, the only place to do so is Oakland County Circuit Court.