Goose Creek Looks to Stem Sweepstakes Parlors

The City of Goose Creek is preparing strict new business license requirements to avoid "sweepstakes" parlors that have been opening up around the Lowcountry.

Suspiciously similar to the video poker parlors that were chased out of the state more than a decade ago, the sweepstakes sites have raised alarms among local law enforcement in places like Beaufort. Meanwhile, legislators in Columbia are considering bills to ban the industry.

Ron Faretra said he knows a gambling machine when he sees one — and it doesn't have to look like it was just rolled off the truck from Vegas. Faretra, Goose Creek's Finance Director, visited a sweepstakes parlor in Charleston after receiving a few requests for businesses licenses in the city. 

"The only difference between these machines and a slot machine is that I didn't have to pull a lever. I clicked a mouse," he said. "I walked out of there with $12. It was pure gambling."

Response to the machines has been different in different parts of the state. Beaufort County courts recently ruled the machines were illegal because of a state ban on video gaming machines. But other areas like Georgetown have ruled the sweepstakes parlors were allowed.

The company in the Beaufort case, HEST, argued in court that winnings are chosen at random, and that the games are for entertainment and not the basis for a customer's prize.

Last week, a S.C. Senate Judiciary subcommittee approved a bill (S.1065) that would close a loophole for raffles and charities that allowed these machines entrance into the Palmetto State, according to bill author Sen. Larry Martin (R-Pickens). There is a similar bill in the House (H.4675).

There are already two sweepstakes parlors on Red Bank Road, outside of city limits, and another sweepstakes parlor in a strip mall along River Road near Otranto.

The proposed language would allow business licenses, but limit the parlors to light industrial areas. There could be no more than four in a facility. No alcohol would be allowed on the premises and it would have to meet the same restrictions as an adults-only business.

Mayor Michael Heitzler said he'll likely support the new rules, but he was skeptical of the threat.

"Is there some sort of evil that comes out of that machine and that's why we don't want it in our town?" he asked. "I could go along with it, but I think we should wait for the state (to act)."

Faretra explained the potential impact on Goose Creek by pointing down the road, to the former JK Harris call center. He used the site and its hundreds of ready computer hook-ups as a hypothetical example of what could happen if this industry went unchecked.

"There could be a casino right in the middle of Goose Creek," Faretra said. "If we wait for a state statute, we're going to end up with machines."