(a) License Required. No licensee authorized by the State of West Virginia to sell alcoholic liquors as provided by Articles 60-7 and 60-8 of the Code of West Virginia shall do so within the corporate limits of the City without first having obtained a City license issued by the City Recorder as hereinafter provided in this article.
(b) Application; Information Required; Fee.
(1) Application for a license to operate a private club shall be made on such forms as may be prescribed by the City Recorder and shall include:
A. The name of the applicant;
B. If such applicant be an unincorporated association, the names and addresses of the members of its governing board;
C. If such applicant be a corporation, the names and addresses of its officers and directors;
D. The place at which such applicant will conduct its operations and whether such place is owned or leased by the applicant;
E. The number of members of the applicant;
F. The name or names of any national organizations with which the applicant is affiliated and the nature of such affiliation;
G. The size and nature of the dining and kitchen facilities operated by applicant; and
H. Such other information as the City Recorder may reasonably require which shall include, but not be limited to, the criminal records, if any, of each member of applicant's governing board and its officers and directors who have been convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude.
(2) Such application shall be verified by each member of the governing board of the applicant if an unincorporated association or, if the applicant be a corporation, by each of its officers and all members of its board of directors. Such application shall be accompanied by the license fee hereinafter prescribed.
(c) Investigation; Issuance or Refusal of License.
(1) Upon receipt of the application referred to in subsection (b) hereof together with the accompanying license fee hereinafter set out, the City Recorder and, at the Recorder's request, his duly authorized representatives may conduct such investigation as the Recorder may deem necessary to determine the accuracy of the matters contained in such application. The Police Department and all duly employed members thereof are hereby designated as authorized representatives of the City Recorder and are hereby directed to make such investigation as the Recorder may direct to determine the accuracy of the matters contained in any such application. A written report of every such investigation shall be attached to the application which it concerns and shall be maintained as a part of the permanent records of the City. The City Recorder shall withhold the granting or refuse to grant such license for a period not to exceed thirty days. If it shall appear that such applicant is a bona-fide private club, of good reputation in the City and that there is no false Statement contained in such application, the Recorder shall issue a license authorizing the applicant to sell alcoholic liquors within this City, and otherwise shall refuse to issue such license.
(2) Upon refusal to issue such license, the City Recorder shall promptly notify the applicant, in writing, of the reasons for such refusal and such refusal shall be final unless a hearing is requested. When such refusal becomes final, the Recorder shall forthwith refund to the applicant the fee accompanying his application and shall promptly advise the Commissioner, in writing, of his reasons for denying the application.
(3) Any license issued pursuant to an application received hereunder shall authorize the licensee to sell alcoholic liquors at only the one location specified in the license.
(4) Any license issued hereunder shall expire on the 30th day of June next following the date of issuance and may be renewed upon the same showing as required for the issuance of the initial license, together with the payment of fees hereinafter prescribed.
(5) A license issued under the provisions of this article shall not be transferable with regard to either licensee or location.
(6) The City Recorder shall deliver to the licensee of any license issued hereunder a copy of this article and shall advise the licensee to fully acquaint himself with the provisions thereof.
(d) Annual License Fee; Partial Fee.
(1) The annual license fee for a license issued under the provisions of this article to a fraternal or veterans organization or a nonprofit social club shall be three hundred seventy-five dollars.
(2) The annual license fee for a license issued under the provisions of this article to a private club other than a private club of the type specified in subsection (d)(1) hereof shall be five hundred dollars if such private club has less than one thousand members and one thousand two hundred fifty dollars if such private club has one thousand or more members.
(3) The fee for any such license issued following the first day of January of any year and to expire on the thirtieth day of June of such year shall be one-half of the annual license fee prescribed by subsections (d)(1) and (2) hereof.
(e) Wine Retailers and Distributors.
(1) The annual license tax upon distributors and retailers of wine within the City limits of Lewisburg, and to such end, after the effective date of this article, no person may engage in business in the capacity of distributor or retailer of wine as provided by Chapter 60, Article 8 of the West Virginia Code of 1931, as last amended, within the corporate limits of the City, without first obtaining a license from the City, nor shall a person continue to engage in any such activity after his license has expired, been suspended or revoked. No person may be licensed in more than one of such capacities at the same time.
(2) The City shall collect an annual fee for license issued under this section as follows:
A. Twenty-five hundred dollars per year for a distributor's license.
B. One hundred fifty dollars per year for a retailer's license.
(3) The license period shall begin on the first day of July of each year commencing with July 1, 1981, and ending on the thirtieth day of June of the following year, and if the initial license is granted for less than a year, the fee shall be computed in proportion to the number of quarters remaining in the fiscal year, including the quarter in which application is made.
(4) A retailer who has more than one place of retail business shall obtain a license for each separate retail establishment. A retailer's license may be issued only to the proprietor or owner of a bona fide grocery store or wine specialty shop.
(5) A copy of this article imposing the tax shall be certified by the Mayor to the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Commission and to the Tax Commissioner.
(f) Certain Acts Prohibited; Penalties.
(1) It shall be unlawful for any licensee, or agent, employee or member thereof on such licensees' premises to:
A. Sell or offer for sale any alcoholic liquors other than from the original package or container;
B. Authorize or permit any disturbance of the peace; obscene, lewd, immoral or improper entertainment, conduct or practice; gambling or any slot machine, multiple coin console machine, multiple coin console slot machine or device in the nature of a slot machine;
C. Sell, give away or permit the sale of, gift to or the procurement of any alcoholic liquors, for any minor, mental incompetent or person who is physically incapacitated due to the consumption of alcoholic liquor or the use of drugs;
D. Sell, give or dispense alcoholic liquors in or on any licensed premises or in any rooms directly connected therewith, between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on any Sunday except as provided under Section 741.01(h);
E. Permit the consumption by or serve to, on the licensed premises any alcoholic liquors, covered by this article, to any person under the age of twenty-one years;
F. With the intent to defraud, alter, change or misrepresent the quality, quantity or brand name of any alcoholic liquor;
G. Sell or offer for sale any alcoholic liquor to any person who is not a duly elected or approved dues paying member in good standing of the private club or a guest of such member; or
H. Violate any reasonable rule or regulation of the State Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner.
(2) It shall further be unlawful for any licensee to advertise in any news media or other means, outside of the licensee's premises, the fact that alcoholic liquors may be purchased thereat.
(3) Any person who violates any of the foregoing provisions, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than one hundred dollars nor more than five hundred dollars, or by imprisonment in the County Jail for a period not to exceed thirty days, or by both fine and imprisonment.
(g) Revocation or Suspension of License.
(1) The City Recorder may on his own motion, or shall on the sworn complaint of any person, conduct an investigation or cause an investigation to be conducted by his duly authorized representatives to determine if any provisions of this article have been violated by any licensee. A written report of any such investigation shall be attached to the application which it concerns and shall be maintained as a part of the permanent records of the City. The City Recorder shall revoke any licensee's license if he finds that such licensee has violated any provision of this article, or if he finds the existence of any ground on which a license could have been refused, if such licensee were then applying for a license. Upon final conviction of a licensee, or any employee thereof acting within the scope of his employment, of any violation of any Ordinance of this City regarding the regulation and control of alcoholic liquors, gambling, prostitution or the sale, possession or distribution of narcotics or dangerous drugs, the City Recorder shall forthwith revoke the licensee's license. Such revoked license shall not be reissued or re-instated for a period of one year from the date of such revocation. The location used by the licensee whose license shall have been revoked shall not be used or occupied by any other licensee during said one year period, and the City Recorder shall not issue a new license to any applicant to use said premises during the period of one year from the date of revocation.
(2) Whenever the City Recorder shall refuse to issue a license, or shall revoke a license, he shall cause a notice, in writing, stating the reasons for such action, to be served in person or by certified mail, return receipt requested, on the licensee or applicant, and shall immediately advise the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Commissioner of such action and the reasons therefore, in writing.
(3) Any applicant or licensee, as the case may be, adversely affected by such action by the City Recorder shall have a right to a hearing thereon before the City Council; provided, that demand in writing for such hearing is served upon the City Recorder, within ten days following the receipt by such applicant or licensee of said certified copy of said notice. The service of such demand for a hearing upon the City Recorder shall operate to suspend the execution of the action with respect to which a hearing is being demanded.
(4) The City Recorder shall immediately notify City Council that such demand for hearing has been served and the City Council shall set a date for such hearing, the hearing to be held within thirty days after receipt of such demand by the Recorder, and shall cause the person demanding the hearing to be notified thereof. At such hearing the City Council shall hear evidence and thereafter shall, by resolution carried by a majority of the City Council, affirm, modify or vacate the action with respect to which such hearing was held, which resolution shall be final unless vacated or modified upon Judicial review thereof.
(h) License for the Sale of non-Intoxicating Beer. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Code or other Ordinance of this City to the contrary, no licensee shall be prohibited from obtaining a license for the sale of non-intoxicating beer under the provisions of West Va. Code Article 11-16 because such licensee sells alcoholic liquors, permits the consumption of alcoholic liquor on his premises, or is the holder of a federal tax stamp permitting the sale of such alcoholic liquor. (Ord. 263. Passed 7-19-16.)