(A) No license shall be issued until the Police Department has conducted an investigation of the representations set forth in the application, the applicant’s moral character and the applicant’s financial status. All applicants must cooperate with this investigation.
(B) No license shall be issued until the Council has held a public hearing in the manner as the Council may direct. At the public hearing, all persons interested in the matter shall be heard, and the hearing may be adjourned from time to time. No hearing shall be required for a renewal of a license, but the Council may, in its sole discretion, hold a hearing.
(C) After investigation and hearing, the Council shall, in its discretion, grant or deny the application.
(D) Each license shall be issued only to the applicant and for the premises described in the application. No license may be transferred to another person or place without application to the Council in the same manner as an application for a new license. Transfer of 25% or more of the stock of a corporation or of a controlling interest thereof, whichever is less, shall be deemed a transfer of the license of a corporate licensee. If the licensee is a corporation which is wholly owned by another corporation, the same provisions about the transfer of a stock or a controlling interest shall apply to that parent corporation, any second parent corporation which wholly owns the parent corporation and all other similarly situated parent corporations up through the chain of ownership. Transfer of this amount of stock without prior Council approval is a ground for revocation or suspension of the license. In addition, each day the licensee operates under the license after a transfer has taken place without obtaining Council approval shall be a separate violation of this chapter.
(E) Any application for a license may be considered by the City Council at the same time an applicant is requesting any land use approvals needed for the site, including site plan review, rezoning or an amendment to the Comprehensive Guide Plan. Final approval of a license shall not be granted until the City Council has given at least preliminary approval to any necessary land use request. If an application is granted for a location where a building is under construction or not ready for occupancy, the license shall not be delivered to the licensee until a certificate of occupancy has been issued for the licensed premises.
(F) In the case of the death of a licensee, the personal representative of a licensee may continue operation of the business for not more than 180 days after the licensee’s death.
(2004 Code, § 120.21) (Ord. 95-162, passed 2-27-1996; Ord. 06-0442, passed 8-8-2006)