building inspector suck

adhlorenz

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my garage was open when building inspector came around and he saw my games in garage now he said i have to apply for a amusement permit and follow these rules even when no one plays with them but family and all set to free play with no coin Mech in them


§ 75-18. Coin-controlled amusement devices.

A. Definitions. As used in this section, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

COIN-CONTROLLED AMUSEMENT DEVICE
Includes a machine, apparatus, paraphernalia or device, whether manually, mechanically, electrically or otherwise used or operated or constructed to be used or operated, for amusement and entertainment purposes or in or upon which a game of skill or amusement may be played by one or more persons, singly or collectively, by and as the result of the insertion of a piece of money or coin or other object for which a fee, charge or other consideration is imposed directly or indirectly. This definition, however, shall exclude a device, the possession or use of which is prohibited by law and particularly shall exclude a gambling device. No gambling device shall be licensed hereunder.

GAMBLING DEVICE
Includes:

(1) A machine, slot machine, apparatus, paraphernalia or device, whether manually, mechanically, electrically or otherwise operated, in or upon which a game or contest involving an element of chance may be played, and the machine or device may be operated by one or more persons, singly or collectively, upon and as the result of the insertion of a piece of money or coin or other object for which a fee, charge or other consideration is imposed directly or indirectly.

(2) A machine, apparatus, paraphernalia or device that is adapted or may be converted into one that is adapted for use in such a way that, as the result of the insertion of a piece of money or coin or other object, such machine or device is caused to operate or may be operated and, by reason of an element of chance or other outcome of such operation, unpredictable by him, the user may receive or become entitled to receive a piece of money, credit, allowance or thing of value or any check, slug, token or memorandum, whether of value or otherwise, which may be exchanged for any money, credit, allowance or thing of value or which may be given in trade or the user may secure additional chances or rights to use such machine, apparatus or device, irrespective of whether it may, apart from the element of chance or unpredictable outcome of such operation, also sell, deliver or present some merchandise, indication of weight or other thing of value Editor's Note: Former Subsection A(2) of this definition, regarding pinball and bagatelle machines, was repealed 3-8-1994, effective 3-18-1994. This amendment also provided for the renumbering of former Subsection A(3) of this definition to become Subsection A(2) of this definition. .

PERSON
Includes one or more individuals, a partnership, a company, an association of individuals and a corporation.

B. License required.

[Amended 6-8-1993, effective 6-21-1993; 10-19-1993, effective 11-1-1993; 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]

(1) Licenses and approvals.

(a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of the chapter, no person shall place or deliver or use or permit the use or operation of a coin-controlled amusement device upon any premises or location in the City until:

[1] The location of the establishment or premises where such device is to be used or operated and the responsible operator of such establishment or premises shall have been approved by the Commissioner of Police and the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services and a license for the location has been issued by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services based on such approvals; and

[2] A license in accordance with this section to use or operate or permit the use or operation of the device upon the approved premises shall have been obtained from the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services by the operator of such establishment or premises.

(b) Each approved location shall have attached thereon the location's license, signed by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services.

(c) A device becoming out-of-order or otherwise inoperative shall be clearly designated by a placard or sign or shall be removed from access by the public. The application for the approval and issuance of a license for a coin-controlled amusement device location and the operator thereof shall be made by the owner or operator location and shall be on the form or forms required by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services.

(2) Application for approved license. The owner or operator of the establishment or premises upon which one or more coin-controlled amusement devices are located, when applying for the licensing of the location and before such location may be licensed, shall make a sworn application to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services for the necessary approved license, upon blanks to be furnished by the Commissioner, giving the following information:

(a) The name, residence and business address of the owner and, in the case of a corporation, the names and addresses of all officers and directors and, as to the owner and each officer and director, the age, date of birth, place of birth, statement of convictions for any crimes and whether any machine owned by him or under his control had been previously ordered destroyed by a court and such additional information as the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may require.

(b) The name, residence, age, date and place of birth of the person having responsible charge of the premises upon which the device is proposed to be located for use and operation and the location of the premises by street and number, the kind of establishment wherein the device will be located and the number of devices to be placed thereon.

(c) A certification by the applicant that no device owned by him and to be licensed is a gambling device and that no such device, when licensed, will be used or operated for gambling purposes. The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may require such further information as he may deem necessary.

(3) Issuing of license.

(a) The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services may, after the receipt of an application, issue a license for the location in accordance with the provisions of this section. A license shall be prominently displayed thereon. A license shall permit the placing, use and operation of the device(s) at a location and in the responsible charge of a person, both previously approved as herein before provided.

(b) An approved license shall clearly state the number of devices licensed and approved for such location.

(4) Fee for an expiration of license. The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall not issue a license for a location hereunder until a fee, as provided in Chapter 175, Fees, for each location shall have been paid. A license shall expire on the first day of September next succeeding the date of its issuance.

(5) Transfer of license. No license may be transferred from an approved location to another location.

(6) Records of Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services. The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall keep a record of each location, showing the name of the owner, the location where placed and the name of the operator.

(7) Revocation of license. A location-operator license may be revoked by the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services for cause and after a hearing. He may hold a hearing to determine the propriety of issuing, renewing or revoking such a license or permit.
 
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part 2

C. Amusement arcades.

(1) Definition. As used in this subsection, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:

AMUSEMENT ARCADE
A building or place which provides entertainment by means of coin-controlled amusement devices and which contains four or more such devices.

(2) Licenses.

[Amended 12-9-2003, effective 12-19-2003]

(a) License required. No person, firm or corporation shall hereafter erect, maintain, operate, conduct, use or allow to be operated, conducted or used as amusement arcade, whether or not so designated, as defined in this subsection, without obtaining a license therefor from the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services, to be issued in conformity with the provisions of this subsection.

(b) Application for license. Any person, firm or corporation desiring to erect, maintain, operate or conduct an amusement arcade shall make application therefor to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services. Said application must be in writing, duly verified, and shall contain the information required by Subsection B(2) of this section and:

[1] The name and address of the person, firm or corporation seeking to erect, maintain, operate or conduct said amusement arcade.

[2] A description of the size and location of said premises.

[3] Such further information as the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall require.

(c) Investigation and approval of applications for amusement arcades.

[1] Duties of the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services. It shall be the duty of the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services to examine all applications for amusement arcades and to investigate or cause to be investigated each such application to determine whether the premises for which a license is sought complies with the regulations, ordinances and laws applicable thereto and whether the person or persons making such application or whether the person or persons seeking to maintain, operate or conduct such amusement arcade are responsible persons.

[2] Duties of other Departments. In making such investigation, the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall have the assistance of the Departments of Police, Public Works and Fire. When requested, each such Department shall furnish a report to the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services detailing the information desired from its investigation and containing a recommendation as to whether a license should be granted.

[3] Issuing of license. Upon completion of his investigation, the Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall issue an amusement arcade license for an amusement arcade found to be in compliance with the provisions of this subsection.

(d) Fee. The Commissioner of Permit and Inspection Services shall not issue an amusement arcade license until a fee as provided in Chapter 175, Fees, for every coin-controlled amusement device located in the amusement arcade has been paid.

(3) Supervision required. An amusement arcade, whenever operated or used, shall be supervised by a responsible person 18 years of age or older. Such person shall enforce the provisions of this subsection and ensure that the premises are used or operated in an orderly manner.

(4) Minors restricted. No person under the age of 16 years shall be permitted in an amusement arcade during school hours on any weekday that the Buffalo public schools are in session.

(5) Occupancy; public assemblage. No amusement arcade shall be maintained, operated or conducted unless said arcade is in compliance with the provisions of § 75-4 relating to capacity, fire regulations and occupancy. No amusement arcade shall be maintained, operated or conducted unless said arcade is in compliance with the provisions of Chapter 341, Property Maintenance, relating to places of public assemblage. Compliance with the above shall be required of all amusement arcades, notwithstanding their size or location.

(6) Compliance with ordinances required. Every person, firm or corporation which or who maintains, operates or conducts an amusement arcade shall assure that all the applicable ordinances of the City of Buffalo are complied with.

(7) Toilet facilities required. Every amusement arcade must have toilet facilities as required in the Plumbing Code of the City of Buffalo. Editor's Note: See Ch. 326, Plumbing.


§ 75-18, coin-controlled amusement device fee and arcade license (Last amended 10-4-1994, effective 10-17-1994)






Per device






1 device


$47.25





2 devices


$94.50





3 devices


$141.75





Per device in arcade


$47.25
 
You can definitly fight that. They are for amusement only for you, I would say loop hole if they are hard pressed to fight you on it would be to just unhook the coin Mech. Definitly fight that one
 
Long story bro.

Seems like if you remove the mechs, set it to freeplay, then tell your local news station about it, I have a feeling you'll be in a better position to tell him to Go fuck himself.
 
Remove the coin mechs so that they can no longer accept any form of currency. Then, they no longer fall into the definition of a coin-controlled amusement device.
 
So, they can revoke your operator license..which isn't required since you're not really operating games..?
 
I stopped reading after the part about using money to play. That's your loop hole if you want to call it that. What a dick he must have been the kid that got picked on all the time. Take out all the coin mechs set on free play and tell him to reread the code in a nice way and if he still wants to be a dick tell him you will see him in court. What judge in their right mind would hear this case or side with the fun police. All I have to say is what a dick good luck and let us know how this goes
 
I would not remove the coin mechs. The very nature of the statutes that you cited are referring to money making arcades. I'd start with a few polite, good natured phone calls to public officials and work my way up the food chain until I reach someone reasonable. Any reasonable person can see that this is not the intent of the law and not enforceable.
 
my garage was open when building inspector came around and he saw my games in garage now he said i have to apply for a amusement permit and follow these rules...

"Yeah...every once in awhile one of us home arcade people gets faced with this. It's not for profit, only personal amusement - and, because of that, no private collector has ever been successfully taken to task for their machines and forced to get a permit. In any state. So, if you feel like wasting time, go for it. They're not going anywhere."

...is what I would've said.
 
You don't even need to remove the coin mechs, you're not operating those commercially, they are stored at your residence for personal use. Fight it and tell them to take a hike.

I've got a long building inspector story, instead I'll just say that since I was missing 1 sprinkler head in a closet, we missed our business's grand opening, lost thousands in advertising and sales, and spend over $5K to rectify it.

And our business wasn't even required to have fire suppression.

Many of the types you'll find, especially in small positions of authority at the local level have a real power-trip complex going on.
 
Isn't that the same area that shut down that sweet arcade museum?
 
Building inspectors suck. Reminds me of when my brother built a small observatory no bigger than a shed in the middle of nowhere and <poof> a building inspector happened to be out that way and saw him constructing a retractable roof and ordered him to tear it down or to have plans submitted for approval and then he had to pay a fine of more than all the materials cost to build in order to keep it. So he payed the fine. Now the Mount San DiaView observatory is now a licenesed federal government accredited observatory and recognized by Harvard Universities Astronomy program.
 
You should probably get an attorney (preferably one with an office near town hall). If you try and play their game and apply for a permit for an arcade they will then give you a fine for zoning violations since your property probably doesn't have the correct zoning for an arcade. It's all about money (and or someone complained)

It may sound like overkill but there is a reason why they say you can't fight city hall
 
I have had various construction and inspector types in and out of my house for the most part of the 3 months we have lived here and none of them give a squat.
 
Honestly, I wouldn't do anything right now. I would just take a deep breath and relax. This "building inspector" will probably go back to the office, thinking he is hot shit, say something to his boss and his boss will laugh in his face. Just cause this guy says you need a permit, doesn't mean that he has any clue what the hell he is talking about.
 
Did he put anything in writing? If not, and you have no formal written communications from them then certainly don't do anything. Just wait it out first.
 
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