- April 19, 2024
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Earlier this year, the city instituted two moratoriums — one on pain-management clinics and another on Internet cafés.
Pain-management clinics, which have been criticized for facilitating the illegal drug trade statewide, and Internet cafés, which are often associated with gambling, will continue to face strict regulation in Palm Coast.
The City Council informally agreed Aug. 30 to extend moratoriums on the clinics and cafés, in order to buy time to write clear regulation.
The pain-management moratorium was recommended by by Flagler County Sheriff Donald Fleming and was implemented Dec. 21, 2010. It will expire Dec. 31, 2011. Included in the moratorium was that the clinics couldn’t be cash-only operations, and the hours of operation were limited to 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.
According to an Aug. 30 presentation, the city currently has three pain-management clinics. All are in compliance, said City Manager Jim Landon said.
In the most recent session of the Florida Legislature, House Bill 7095 enforces certain restrictions on pain-management clinics, including that the facilities be located at a publicly fixed location; there must be a sign with a name, hours of operation and an address; there must be emergency lighting and communications, a reception and waiting area, restrooms, exam rooms, treatment rooms and an administrative area.
With these regulations, establishments in which patients can essentially walk in, receive a prescription, and walk out, are limited.
Palm Coast Mayor Jon Netts said the appropriate thing to do is to continue the current moratorium until Dec. 31, and, in the meantime, draw on resources with the Sheriff’s Offce and the Health Department to determine what more should be done beyond state legislation.
Landon and council members reiterated that the three clinics are operating under state regulation and “there’s no problem in Palm Coast.”
Internet cafés, too
Internet cafés were coming into the city at a rapid rate, but the City Council put a halt to such establishments May 10 by enacting a moratorium. That moratorium will expire Nov. 6.
Currently, there are nine active Internet cafés in the city, and one with a pending occupancy permit.
The Florida Legislature has yet to come up with any regulations on such establishments. (See heading below the picture in the left column on this page.)
The City Council agreed that the moratorium should be extended for another year, until May 2012, in order for state regulations to be adopted.
Netts said the issue with Internet cafés should be a state issue.
“If (the state) chooses to deal with it, they need to deal with it,” Netts said. “Again, I think we have land-use issues that are legitimate.”
City Attorney Bill Reischmann said it’s difficult for local governments to regulate Internet cafés because of the current state of the Florida statutes.
At a future workshop, the council will determine criteria to help establish regulations. This also gives the Florida Legislature a chance to come up with statewide regulation, council members said.
“The fear is that if we open the door and you haven’t taken any local action, that they will be lining up,” Landon said. “Instead of sitting on our hands and saying ‘Let’s take that chance,’ we pass local laws in the meantime that don’t shut down existing ones, but that once a moratorium expires, we try to control them.”
Contact Andrew O’Brien at [email protected].
