(a) License required. No licensee authorized by the state to sell alcoholic liquors as provided by W. Va. Code Ch. 60-7 and Ch. 60-8 shall do so within the corporate limits of the city without first having obtained a city license issued by the City Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer 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 division (b) hereof, together with the accompanying license fee hereinafter set out, the City Administrator/Treasurer and, at his or her request, his or her duly authorized representatives may conduct such investigation as the City Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer and are hereby directed to make such investigation as the City Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer shall withhold the granting or refuse to grant such license for a period not to exceed 30 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 City Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer 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 City Administrator/Treasurer shall forthwith refund to the applicant the fee accompanying his or her application and shall promptly advise the Commissioner, in writing, of his or her 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 June 30 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 Administrator/Treasurer shall deliver to the licensee of any license issued hereunder a copy of this article and shall advise the licensee to fully acquaint himself or herself 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 $375.
(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 division (d)(1) hereof shall be $500 if such private club has less than 1,000 members and $1,250 if such private club has 1,000 or more members.
(3) The fee for any such license issued following January 1 of any year and to expire on June 30 of such year shall be one-half of the annual license fee prescribed by divisions (d)(1) and (d)(2) hereof.
(e) Wine retailers and distributors.
(1) The annual license tax upon distributors and retailers of wine within the city limits, 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 W. Va. Code Ch. 60-8 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 or her 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; and
B. One hundred fifty dollars per year for a retailer’s license.
(3) The license period shall begin on July 1 of each year commencing with July 1 and ending on June 30 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 state’s 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;
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 § 741.02(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 21 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) Any person who violates any of the foregoing provisions, upon conviction thereof, shall be punished by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500, or by imprisonment in the county jail for a period not to exceed 30 days, or by both fine and imprisonment.
(g) Revocation or suspension of license.
(1) The City Administrator/Treasurer should not have the authority to act on their own without Council approval, shall on the sworn complaint of any person, conduct an investigation or cause an investigation to be conducted by his or her 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 Administrator/Treasurer shall revoke any licensee’s license if he or she finds that such licensee has violated any provision of this article, or if he or she 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 or her 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 Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer shall refuse to issue a license, or shall revoke a license, he or she 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 Administrator/Treasurer 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 Administrator/Treasurer, 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 Administrator/Treasurer shall operate to suspend the execution of the action with respect to which a hearing is being demanded.
(4) The City Administrator/Treasurer 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 30 days after receipt of such demand by the City Administrator/Treasurer, 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 W. Va. Code Ch. 11-16 because such licensee sells alcoholic liquors, permits the consumption of alcoholic liquor on his or her premises, or is the holder of a federal tax stamp permitting the sale of such alcoholic liquor.