Milwaukee To ‘Pokemon' Monsters: Get A Permit To Enter Parks

“Pokemon Go” monsters can roam virtually wherever they please, but they’ll need a permit to get into Milwaukee County parks.

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At the height of the game’s popularity last summer, the large crowds it attracted to one Milwaukee park left county officials at a loss for how to deal with the sudden influx of players and the trash they left behind. With more augmented-reality games in development, the permitting process Milwaukee County set up puts it at the forefront of an emerging challenge for government officials who want to regulate them.

“We’re prepared for all of them now,” said County Supervisor Sheldon Wasserman, who wrote the proposal setting up a permitting process that County Executive Chris Abele signed on Feb. 10. 

Other places where officials are looking at how to handle such games include Illinois, where lawmakers are considering requiring companies to remove sites from games when they receive a request to do so. The bill pending in the Illinois Legislature is a response to heavy foot-traffic last year at a suburban Chicago park with protected dunes.