A Milwaukee, Minnesota county parks director is claiming that Pokemon GO is violating a county ordinance requiring a permit to play games in a park, and he is asking the game developer to remove all ‘Poke stops’ from public squares, until a permit is obtained, Reuters reported.
A letter sent to game developer Niantic states that the company "must deactivate and remove all Pokemon GO sites, including Poke stops and Gyms within Milwaukee County parks.”
The parks director, John Dargle, claims that his organization has received many complaints from park goers and neighbors about people flocking to parks to play the virtual scavenger hunt game.
The city also claims that the increase in people flocking to the park has lead to more trash, so they are seeking a cut of Niantic’s earnings from the in-app purchases as well as from a local artist who has begun selling Pokemon themed art in the park.
"Everybody likes fun recreation. The parks are there to be used by the public, but when it starts interfering with other people's ability to enjoy their own park, when there's more trash, you know, we have to get serious about it," Milwaukee County Executive Chris Abele told WISN. "Parks wants a cut of that revenue so we can help catch up on deferred maintenance.”
Players argue that people have a right to play with their phones and enjoy parks, because that is the definition of civic space.
"I understand the danger, the worry, the fears behind that, but from what I've seen, everyone plays respectfully here. Everyone's extremely polite, and I don't know why people wouldn't want the parks to be filled with people. That's what parks are made for," player Andres Amaya told the station.