(a) License Required for the Sale of Alcoholic Liquors. No licensee authorized by the State to sell alcoholic liquors as provided by West Virginia Articles 60-7 and 60-8 shall do so within the corporate limits of the City without first having obtained a City license issued by the City Clerk as hereinafter provided in this section.
(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 Clerk and shall include:
A. The name of the applicant;
B. If such applicant is an unincorporated association, the names and addresses of the members of its governing board;
C. If such applicant is 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 the applicant; and
H. Such other information as the City Clerk 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 is 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; Refund of Fee; License Expiration and Renewal.
(1) Upon receipt of the application referred to in subsection (b) hereof together with the accompanying license fee hereinafter set out, the City Clerk and at the Clerk’s request, his duly authorized representatives, may conduct such investigation as the Clerk 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 Clerk and are hereby directed to make such investigation as the Clerk 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 Clerk 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 Clerk 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 Clerk shall promptly notify the applicant, in writing, of the reasons for such refusal and such refusal shall be final unless a hearing is requested in accordance with the provisions of this article. When such refusal becomes final, the Clerk 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 issuance of the initial license, together with the payment of fees hereinafter prescribed.
(5) A license issued under the provisions of this section shall not be transferable with regard to either licensee or location.
(6) The City Clerk shall deliver to the licensee of any license issued hereunder a copy of this section 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 the section to a fraternal or veterans organization or a nonprofit social club shall be three hundred seventy-five dollars ($375.00).
(2) The annual license fee for a license issued under the provisions of this section to a private club other than a private club of the type specified in subsection (d)(1) hereof shall be five hundred dollars ($500.00) if such private club has less than 1,000 members and one thousand two hundred fifty dollars ($1,250) if such private club has 1,000 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; Annual License Fee. The annual license tax upon distributors and retailers of wine within the City limits, and to such end, after the effective date of this section, no person may engage in business in the capacity of distributor or retailer of wine as provided in Article 60-8 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.
The City shall collect an annual fee for a license issued under this subsection (e) as follows:
(1) Twenty-five hundred dollars ($2,500) per year for a distributor’s license.
(2) One hundred fifty dollars ($150.00) per year for a retailer’s license.
The license period shall begin on the first day of July of each year commencing with July 1, 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 the application is made.
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.
A copy of this article imposing the tax shall be certified by the Mayor to the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Commission and the Tax Commissioner.
(f) Revocation or Suspension of License; Hearing; Appeal.
(1) The City Clerk 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 the provisions of this section 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 part of the permanent records of the City. The City Clerk shall revoke any licensee’s license if he finds that such licensee has violated any provision of this section, or if he finds the existence of any grounds 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 relating to the regulation and control of alcoholic liquors, gambling, prostitution or the sale, possession, or distribution of narcotics or dangerous drugs, the City Clerk shall forthwith revoke the licensee’s license. Such revoked license shall not be reissued or reinstated 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 Clerk 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 Clerk 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 therefor, in writing.
(3) Any applicant or licensee, as the case may be, adversely affected by such action by the City Clerk shall have a right to a hearing thereon before Council; provided, that demand in writing for such hearing is served upon the City Clerk 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 Clerk shall operate to suspend the execution of the action with respect to which a hearing is being demanded.
(4) The City Clerk shall immediately notify Council that such demand for hearing has been served and Council shall set a date for such hearing, the hearing to be held within thirty days after receipt of such demand by the Clerk, and shall cause the person demanding the hearing to be notified thereof. At such hearing, Council shall hear evidence and thereafter shall, by resolution carried by a majority of 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.
(g) License for Sale of Nonintoxicating 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 nonintoxicating 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. 90-003. Passed 5-15-90.)