(A) No more than 1 retailer’s license shall be directly or indirectly issued under this chapter to any 1 person or for any 1 place in the city, nor shall any retailer’s on-sale or off-sale license be directly or indirectly issued for any place which has been granted a license of another class.
(B) It is a misdemeanor for any person, partnership or corporation to knowingly have or possess a direct or indirect interest in more than 1 license issued under this chapter and, upon conviction thereof, the Council may immediately revoke all licenses in which the personal, partnership or corporation has an interest.
(C) For this chapter, the term INTEREST has the following meaning:
(1) Includes any pecuniary interest in the ownership, operation, management or profits of a retail liquor establishment, and a person who receives money from time to time directly or indirectly from a licensee, in the absence of consideration and excluding gifts or donations, has a pecuniary interest in the retail license; and
(2) Does not include loans; rental agreement; open accounts or other obligations held with or without security arising out of the ordinary and regular course of business of selling or leasing merchandise, fixtures, supplies to the establishment; an interest in a corporation owning or operating a hotel but having at least 150 or more rental units holding a liquor license in conjunction therewith; or 10% or less interest in any other corporation holding a license.
(D) In determining whether an interest exists, the transaction must have been bona fide and the reasonable value of the goods and things received as consideration for a payment by the licensee and all other facts reasonably tending to prove or disprove the existence of a purposeful scheme or arrangement to evade the restrictions of this division must be considered.
(1987 Code, § 406.06)