Commission to ponder Dotty’s fate
Clark County commissioners will discuss four proposals to change the ordinance governing the operation of slot machines inside taverns when the panel holds a public hearing to day.
But the description of what constitutes a tavern may ultimately rest with Nevada gaming regulators, a majority of whom indicated they are uncomfortable with the business model of one successful operation.
The issue surrounds Dotty’s Gaming & Spirits, a chain of 64 statewide locations that operates as a tavern under current Nevada and Clark County regulations and ordinances.
Rival tavern operators, locals casino giants backed by the Nevada Resort Association, and elected leaders believe Dotty’s may be skirting state law because the company’s gaming revenues are not incidental to the primary business.
The vast majority of the Dotty’s, including three new locations approved last month by gaming regulators, have 15 slot machines, the most allowed under Nevada gaming law for restricted licensees.
The Dotty’s business model focuses heavily on gaming. County audits last year found gaming revenues accounted for more than 90 percent of the cash flow at several locations.
Dotty’s does not have operating kitchens, so smoking is allowed. Dotty’s offers customers prepackaged food and minimal beverage options from a service counter, and the slot machines are all slant-top machines with individual chairs.
Two of the four proposed ordinance changes would dramatically alter the Dotty’s business model.
Both the Nevada Resort Association and Clark County Commissioner Steve Sisolak want all taverns in the county — both new and existing — to have at least two-thirds of their slot machines (10 per location) embedded in the top of bar. Existing locations would have until February 2013 to comply. Any new taverns would have to have to include a full-service restaurant.
Sisolak said Monday that be believes that many of the parties expected to take part in the public hearing at the Clark County Government Center, including resort association leaders, rival tavern operators and slot machine route operation companies, are working off his proposal. It would also require new taverns to have 2,500 square feet of public space and be located at least 2,500 feet away from any existing tavern.
Clark County Commissioner Chris Guinchigliani has submitted changes in the ordinance that would require new taverns to have at least four slot machines embedded in a bar top while not calling for any changes in existing locations.
A group of tavern owners also want to leave existing locations alone, but would require that new locations have 10 bar top slot machines, 2,500 square feet of public space and a restaurant.
“I think we’re going to have a pretty spirited debate,” Sisolak said.
Dotty’s representatives have said in several public forums their customers prefer slant-top machines. The company said it could be forced to replace 66 percent of its slot machines if bar-top machines are mandated.
Dotty’s owner Craig Estey, who brought the business model from Oregon to Nevada in 1995, is out of the country and is not expected to attend the hearing. He has not responded to interview requests made through the company’s representatives.
At a Gaming Control Board workshop on March 23, resort association leaders presented a proposal similar to what has been proposed to the county which would stop future Dotty’s-type locations from being built.
Three members of the five-person Nevada Gaming Commission indicated on March 24 they might favor a review of the regulation that covers gaming in taverns.
Contact reporter Howard Stutz at hstutz@reviewjournal.com or 702-477-3871.
