A Flagler County attorney is pushing to allow "instant bingo machines" in Bunnell where they were shut down a year ago. But the city manager said illegal businesses don't belong in Bunnell.

  • Shamrock Bingo shut down in Bunnell 1 year ago
  • Lawyer trying to get ordinance allowing "instant bingo machines" again
  • Bunnell city manager says that won't happen

The Shamrock Bingo and Internet business used to sit in the Atlantis Plaza in Bunnell. Now it's a beauty supply store, just two doors down from Robert and Edna Hurta's Hidden Treasures thrift store.

"It probably brought at least about 100 people a week in our store, brought our business up a bit. Then when they disappeared, it knocked it down," said Robert Hurta.

Hurta said he wouldn't mind seeing the businesses back in the city and Chiumento Selis Dwyer law firm is proposing a change to the city's ordinance with hopes to reopen them.

"Nothing's changed, it's still illegal," said Dan Davis, Bunnell city manager.

But last May, Florida Department of Law Enforcement agents shut down the place after they say they found "about 40 casino-style gaming and gambling devices." The report said the business violated multiple state laws.

"We obviously trust what they say. So we went with it when FDLE said this was illegal. We have no reason to question that," said Davis.

Chiumento argues in a letter he sent to the city, that the city has misinterpreted state laws and that Bingo and Instant Bingo are exempt from the state's statutes that outlaw "slot machine-like gaming."

He said his research shows similar ordinances have been passed other cities, but the cities aren't listed in the letter.

"There were never no fights or nothing in the parking lot, or screaming about winning. As long as they're not causing any trouble or hurting anybody, I don't see a problem with it," said Hurta.

We reached out to the attorney's office a few times Monday and hadn't heard back. The city said live-called Bingo games are legal. City leaders are not taking a vote on the issue at this time.