Internet sweepstakes cafes can operate throughout Spring Hope, but under strict zoning regulations, officials say.

The Spring Hope Board of Commissioners recently approved an ordinance to allow the popular gaming sites to operate within town limits. But those facilities will have to adhere to tight rules and locate in areas with heavy industrial zoning.

Under the regulations, sweepstakes operators must conduct business hours between 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Smoking and alcoholic beverages are prohibited, and no more than 10 machines are allowed in any cafe.

The cafes have to be more than 1,000 feet from churches, 300 feet from residences and 1,000 feet from any other sweepstakes cafe. There must be paved off-street and handicapped parking available at each establishment, along with one parking space for every two machines.

Commissioners also voted to charge cafe owners a business license fee of $500 annually for each machine.

Town Manager John Holpe said the sweepstakes cafes recently have caught a huge buzz throughout Nash County and continue to remain popular throughout the state. In this month, Holpe said the town has received nearly six calls from developers inquiring about starting cafes.

“I don’t know why they have become so popular,” Holpe said in a telephone interview. “But at this point, from what we know, they are legal. So we can’t turn them down.”

The last sweepstakes cafe to open was in October near the downtown area. But the cafe closed because officials later discovered food and drinks were being served to patrons, Holpe said.

The cafe owners requested a special-use permit in December, but it was denied by commissioners. The planning committee later said the cafe did not meet the definition of an indoor entertainment facility, Holpe said.

Commissioner Stanley Hawley said he did not know much about the cafes’ legalities but is certain the issue will go before the N.C. General Assembly once they go back into session.

“If the state doesn’t have laws against (the cafes), then there’s nothing we can do but approve it,” Hawley said in a telephone interview. “It looks like its gambling, but there’s no law, so what do you do?”