A. Legal Authority: Idaho Code sections 23-934A through 23-934C authorize the City to issue catering permits.
B. Purpose: This section provides the procedures and guidelines to obtain an alcoholic beverage catering permit pursuant to Idaho Code title 23.
C. Catering Permit Required: No person shall serve and sell any alcoholic beverage by the drink at an event, without first obtaining a catering permit issued by the City Clerk’s Office.
D. Application For Permit:
1. Application for a catering permit shall be made to the City Clerk’s Office in such form and manner as may be prescribed.
2. The written application for a catering permit shall include, at a minimum, the following:
a. The name and address of the applicant; and if a partnership, the name and address of the general partner; and if a corporation or association, the name and address of the agent for service of process; and such other information as may be required.
b. The number and a photocopy of the applicant’s State retail liquor license, State retail beer or wine license, or permit issued pursuant to Idaho Code section 23-1007A.
c. The dates and hours requested during which the permit will be effective, which shall not exceed:
(1) Two (2) consecutive days for a party; or
(2) Five (5) consecutive days for festivals and conventions, with an option to request one extension on the same terms and conditions as the original permit. Extension on a festival or convention catering permit may be issued or denied at the sole and absolute of the City Clerk’s Office.
d. The name of the organization, group or person sponsoring the party, festival or convention; and if applying pursuant to a planned special event permit, the name and number of the planned special event permit.
e. If not the applicant, then the name, phone number, physical and mailing address, and e-mail address of the applicant’s designee who will present at the premises for the duration of the event.
f. The address at which the catering permit is to be used; and if a public building or private building open to the public, the rooms in which the alcoholic beverages are to be served.
g. A detailed description or diagram of the location where the alcoholic beverages are to be served and sold, including a detailed scale drawing of the area.
h. The number of people anticipated to attend the event, including all hosts, employees, sponsors, agents, consumers and security personnel.
3. Upon receipt of an application for a permit, the City Clerk’s Office shall cause the application to be forwarded to the Police Chief and Fire Chief. In addition, the City Clerk’s Office shall cause an investigation to be made to the extent necessary to determine whether the applicant is qualified to receive a catering permit.
4. Every application for a catering permit shall be accompanied by a nonrefundable permit fee in an amount established by the State and listed on the most current City Clerk license fee schedule. An applicant shall pay a fee for each day the catering permit is to be in effect.
5. The application must be made to the City Clerk’s Office no less than five (5) business days prior to the event. In the event an applicant submits an application within five (5) business days of the event, the applicant may request an expedited review. The request for expedited review must be in writing and must explain the reasons for requesting the expedited review. Upon good cause shown, in the City Clerk’s sole discretion, the City Clerk may waive the application filing deadline. If the City Clerk fails to find good cause for an expedited review, the City Clerk shall provide such a decision to the applicant in writing. The application deadline may also be waived if an applicant is applying to use the catering permit at a preapproved event venue and the number of persons attending the event is less than two hundred (200). In either waiver situation, the application shall be submitted no later than twelve o’clock (12:00) noon the Wednesday before the event.
E. Disqualifying Circumstances: No person shall be issued a catering permit if the person:
1. Does not possess a valid retail liquor license, State retail beer or wine license, or permit issued pursuant to Idaho Code section 23-1007A; or
2. Has been convicted of, or received a withheld judgment for, any disqualifying crime.
3. Is required to obtain a planned special event permit as provided by this Code and has not obtained approval of said permit; or
4. Has requested a catering permit for more than the allowed maximum number of days permitted pursuant to this chapter; or
5. The Police Chief or Fire Chief recommends denial of the catering permit.
F. Police And Fire Application Review:
1. Upon receipt of an application from the City Clerk’s Office, the Police and Fire Chiefs, or their designees, may recommend approval of the application, approval of the application with conditions, or denial of the application, for any of the following reasons:
a. To carry out the policies of the City, including to protect the health, safety and welfare of the public, or to prevent an unlawful disturbance or nuisance, the Police Chief may recommend the catering permit be issued with conditions. The Police Chief may consider such factors as the anticipated number of participants, the location of the venue, pedestrian and vehicular traffic, the occurrence of other events in the area at the same time, ingress or egress of customers to the business and surrounding businesses, the presence of minors, and any other relevant factors. The conditions the Police Chief may impose include, but are not limited to, posting signs, hiring additional security personnel at the applicant’s expense, hiring trained alcohol servers, reducing the number of dates or times of the event, or maintenance of the event venue in a specified manner, including restricted area and access points.
b. The Fire Chief shall review the application to confirm that the proposed size, configuration, location and number of people attending the event is consistent with the Fire Code, and to determine if the event will impede the access of emergency vehicles or emergency personnel to the area. The Fire Chief may recommend that the event venue be maintained in a specified manner as a condition of the catering permit to ensure compliance with the Fire Code and access of emergency vehicles and personnel.
G. Event Venue: A proposed event venue shall meet all of the following conditions:
1. The event venue abuts or is contiguous to or has sufficient sanitation services;
2. The boundaries of the event venue are identified by the placement of one or more continuous physical barriers with a minimum height of three feet (3');
3. Any conditions required by the Police Chief or Fire Chief that establish and limit access of the public to and from the area where alcoholic beverages are served and sold;
4. The proposed placement or description of any required signs is satisfactory to the Police Chief;
5. None of the event venue’s furnishings, tables, chairs, or barriers encroach on any sidewalk and are not closer than eight feet (8') from a roadway, alley, or edge of the pavement used for motor vehicle traffic, not including private parking areas; and
6. The event venue obtains and maintains in good standing all required State, County and City licenses, and is in compliance with all applicable Federal, State and local statutes, rules and regulations.
H. Issuance Or Denial Of Catering Permit: The City Clerk’s Office shall issue a catering permit if all of the following are met:
1. The applicant is not disqualified for any reason set forth in subsection E of this section;
2. The Police Chief and Fire Chief recommend issuance of a catering permit either with or without conditions, and, if with conditions, the applicant accepts any such conditions; and
3. The event venue meets all of the requirements of subsection G of this section.
I. Pre-Approved Event Venue:
1. An event venue that routinely hosts catering permit events may be pre-approved as an event venue (“pre-approved event venue”), provided the event venue meets all of the following conditions:
a. The event venue hosts at least twenty (20) events each year at which a catering permit is required;
b. The event venue obtains and maintains in good standing all required State, County and City licenses, and is in compliance with all applicable Federal, State and local statutes, rules and regulations; and
c. The event venue shall not, within one hundred twenty (120) days of its request to be on the pre-approved event venue list, have any violations of its State, County, and City licenses or any criminal violations regarding the serving of alcoholic beverages.
2. Despite meeting the above qualifications, the City Clerk’s Office may deny pre-approval status to an event venue if the City deems that inclusion on the pre-approval list is contrary to public safety or inconsistent with the purpose for which catering permits should be used.
3. A venue must re-submit its request to be a pre-approved event venue each January, or at the time of the first catering permit application to use that venue for the year.
4. The City Clerk, Police Department or Fire Department may remove a venue from the pre-approved event venue list at any time for any violation of this Code, or any civil or criminal violation. Both inclusion on the pre-approved event venue list and removal from the list is within the discretion of the City Clerk’s Office, and no right of appeal exists for failure to be included on the list, or removal from the list.
J. Multi-Day Planned Special Event: A planned special event is scheduled for more than three (3) days, two (2) or more separate applicants may apply for and receive two (2) or more separate catering permits, which may run consecutively to each other and last the duration of the planned special event; provided, however, that no individual applicant may receive two (2) catering permits that run consecutively or receive a catering permit that exceeds three (3) consecutive days.
K. Catering Permit Event:
1. At the event for which the catering permit was obtained, the applicant or applicant’s designee listed on the application shall be personally present at the event venue for the duration of the permit.
2. The catering permit shall be displayed in a conspicuous location at the event venue for the duration of the event.
L. Grounds For Revocation: The City Clerk, Police Chief or Fire Chief may revoke a catering permit for the following reasons:
1. When, subsequent to issuance of the catering permit, the Clerk’s Office finds that the permittee failed to meet the qualifications and none of the disqualifications of this section.
2. The permittee obtained his permit by fraud or misrepresentation.
3. The permittee fails to comply with any of the minimum standards, requirements, policies or procedures set forth in this title;
4. The catering permit is being exercised contrary to the conditions of the catering permit; or
5. The permittee is operating the catering permit in such a manner as to be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare.
M. Revocation Due To Exigent Circumstances:
1. Where there exists a clear danger to the health, safety, or welfare of the public resulting from the use of the catering permit, or where the permittee or his agents fail to perform in conformance with the conditions and terms set forth on the catering permit, the City Clerk, Police Chief or Fire Chief may revoke the catering permit by immediately demanding and seizing the permit.
2. Upon receipt of the revoked permit, or where the permit cannot be seized due to the unavailability of the permittee or his designee, or where the permittee or his designee refuses to surrender the permit, the Chief of Police may direct the seizure and removal of all alcoholic beverages. The Chief of Police shall keep the alcoholic beverages as evidence and, upon conviction of the person for violation of the provisions of this chapter or any other local, County or State law, forfeit the alcoholic beverages, including all packages and bottles, to the State.
N. Procedure Upon Denial, Revocation; Appeal: Except as otherwise provided in this title, the procedures for denial, revocation, and appeal shall be as set forth by Buhl City Code.
O. Violations:
1. A person who fails to display or surrender a catering permit as provided in this section shall be guilty of an infraction for a first-time offense. A second or subsequent offense shall be a misdemeanor.
2. A person holding a catering permit, or any person employed or acting on the behalf of a person holding a catering permit, who permits, allows or fails to correct conduct in violation of the conditions or terms of a catering permit is guilty of an infraction for a first-time offense. A second or subsequent offense shall be a misdemeanor.
3. It shall be a misdemeanor for any person to obtain multiple catering permits for the sole purpose of circumventing State or local laws and regulations.
(Ord. 1017, 1-9-2023)
A. Application; Investigation; Approval; Transfer Fee; Exemptions: An application to transfer a license issued shall be made to the mayor and city council. Upon receipt of such an application, the mayor shall make the same investigation and determination with respect to the transferee as are required by Idaho Code section 23-907 and if the mayor shall determine that all of the conditions required of a licensee have been met by the proposed transferee, then the license shall be endorsed over to the proposed transferee by said licensee for the remainder of the period for which such license was issued and the mayor and city council shall issue a license to the transferee. The fee for transferring a liquor license shall be ten percent (10%) of the purchase price of the liquor license or the cost of good will, whichever is greater. Exemptions as set forth in Idaho Code section 23-908 shall apply.
B. Vested Right: Nothing in this article shall be construed to create any vested right in any person to assignment, renewal or reissuance or continuance of any license or the right to assign any license, or the right to issue a power of attorney over a license. No license may be assigned or transferred without payment of the required fee and the written consent and approval of the mayor and city council. Application for assignment or transfer shall be made upon forms provided by the city clerk-treasurer and the fee will not be returned even if the assignment or transfer is denied.
C. Change Place Of Business: If during the period of any license issued hereunder, the licensee seeks to move his business from one premises to another within the city, he may do so subject to the mayor and city council’s approval that the new premises is suitable for the carrying on of the business. Any licensed person desiring to change his place of business from one location to another shall file with the city clerk-treasurer an application therefor together with a fee of ten dollars ($10.00), which shall not be refunded. The city clerk-treasurer shall inform the police and fire department, who shall investigate the new proposed place of business and, within thirty (30) days, make a report thereon to the mayor and city council, who shall then act upon the application.
(1974 Code § 2-306; amd. Ord. 1017, 1-9-2023)