43
Silver Star caf permit is OK’d
Hubbard
Hubbard Township zoning granted the owner of a caf housing sweepstakes machines a change-of-use permit from an Internet caf to a retail store.
The Silver Star caf , owned by Bill Pilorusso, will now operate as “a retail store selling phone time and using sweepstakes as a marketing device,” according to the approved permit signed by Zoning Administrator John Pieton on Oct. 13.
In May, the township began regulating Internet caf s after seeing the number that were opening in Mahoning County. Zoning ordinance requires the caf s to be built in industrial zoning and 1,000 feet from residential area, church, playground or school.
Pilorusso filed for zoning variance in August after learning of the new ordinance. But the township denied the variance in September.
Despite the denial, the issue went on to the township’s attorney Mark Finamore whose office issued an opinion on the side of Pilorusso’s caf .
“We read the definition of Internet caf ,” Finamore said in a phone interview. In order for it to be an Internet caf , it must “use the Internet to access sweepstakes.”
Finamore said, based on the information passed onto his office by Pilorusso, the township could not zone the Silver Star as an Internet caf because it operates on an internal database using a local area network.
His office recommended the zoning board pass a “conditional-use permit in the district or set up a whole new district altogether.”