Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutordinance.council.008-94 ie,; % ~ '-'.... I" .1 %~<- ~.- I. ~, __I ORDINANCE NO. 'is (Series of 1994) AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, AMENDING SECTION 4-1 AND 4-4 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE OF THE CITY OF ASPEN RELATING TO THE COMPOSITION, ORGANIZATION, POWER AND ADMINISTRATION OF THE ASPEN LIQUOR LICENSING AUTHORITY; SETTING A DURATIONAL LIMIT ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THESE AMENDMENTS; AMENDING SECTIONS 4-21 AND 2-39 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO MOVE THE APPLICATION FEES SECTION FROM CHAPTER 4 TO CHAPT~R 2 OF THE CODE; AND, TO ADD SECTION 4-28 TO THE CODE TO REQUIRE LICENSEES TO REPORT ALL DISTURBANCES ON LICENSED PREMISES TO THE ASPEN POLICE DEPARTMENT WHEREAS, recommendations have been made to the Aspen City Council that it consider the restructuring of the membership of the Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority; and WHEREAS, a work session with interested members of the public has heretofore been held by the City Council and the Council has determined, subsequent to said work session, that it would be in the best interests of the citizens of the City of Aspen to implement the proposed modifications to the Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority for a two-year trial period; and WHEREAS, the city Council desires to place all sections of the Municipal Code relating to fees within Chapter 2 of the Code; and WHEREAS, the city Council desires to require all licensees to report all illegal activity and disturbances which take place on licensed premises to the Aspen Police Department. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO: "e. ~ ~ @.-.,' ~ '-' \ ~ section 1 That section 4-1 of the Municipal Code of the city of Aspen be amended to read as follows: Sec. 4-1. Legislative Declaration. The city council hereby declares that the purpose of this Chapter is to protect the public health, safety and welfare by requiring all persons desiring to sell or offer for sale any liquor or 3.2 beer to be licensed by the city. The City council intends that the city issue local licenses for sale of such beverages, as authorized by state law, and that the city's licensing requirements be consistent with those for state licenses under state law. The City council desires to promote responsibility in the consumption of malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors by its citizens and guests. The city council's mission for the separate local liquor licensing authority is to ensure (a) that the needs of the community for licensed premises are measured by free market economic forces and not arbitrary numerical limitations .on new li- censes; (b) that the privacy rights of licensees and appli- cants for liquor licenses are fairly balanced against the authority's investigatory responsibilities; and, (c) that educational efforts be implemented before enforcement activ- ity is undertaken whenever educational efforts are deemed appropriate and necessary. The city council desires that the separate liquor licensing authority carry out its mis- sion in as streamlined a fashion as possible and that it seek to avoid the creation of new and burdensome paperwork for either the City or its citizens. section 2 That section 4-4 of the Municipal Code of the City of ASPen be amended to read as follows: Sec. 4-4. Aspen Liquor Licensinq Authority. (a) Members: Appointment: Term: Compensation: Vacancies. (i) The City of Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority shall consist of five (5) members who are residents of the city of Aspen and appointed by the city Coun- cil to serve without compensation. 2 e: "( ~~- (ii) Appointments by the city Council shall be for a two (2) year term commencing on the first day of January and expiring on the thirty-first day of December at the completion of the member's term. Initial appointments shall be made as soon as practical and shall specify the term of office of each individual in order to achieve overlapping tenure. (iii) No person shall serve or continue to serve as a member of the Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority for more than two consecutive terms. Further, no person shall serve or continue to serve as a mem- ber of the Authority if that person or any member of his immediate family shall or may hereafter obtain any financial interest in the operation of any business issued a license relating to the sale or dispensation of fermented malt beverages or alcoholic beverages pursuant to Articles 46 or 47 of Title 12, Colorado Revised statutes, as amend- ed. A,,_', ~ II' "'" (iv) Vacancies created by the death, resignation or disqualification of a member of the Authority shall be filled by appointment of the City Council and such appointments shall be for the remainder of the unexpired term. (v) All members of the Authority shall be subject to removal by the city Council. (b) Functions. (i) The Authority shall have the duty and authority to grant or refuse licenses for the possession, sale, and offering for sale of malt, special malt, vi- nous or spirituous liquors and fermented malt beverages as provided by law, to conduct investi- gations as are required by law and to levy penal- ties against licensees in the manner provided by law. (ii) The Authority shall have all the powers of the local licensing authority as set forth in C.R.S. Title 12, Articles 46, 47 and 48. (iii) The Authority shall have the power to promulgate rules and regulations concerning the procedures e 3 f_ II 'q< for hearings before it and the presentation of evidence at hearings. (iv) The Authority shall have the power to require any applicant for a license to furnish any relevant information required by the Authority. (v) The Authority shall have the power to administer oaths and issue subpoenas to require the presence of persons and the production of papers, books and records necessary to the determination of any hearing which the Authority is authorized to con- duct. It shall constitute a violation of this Code for any person to fail to comply with any subpoena issued by the Authority in the proper conduct of its hearing. (vi) The Authority shall have the power to perform all other acts or duties required to carry out the purposes of the state and city liquor and ferment- ed malt beverage licensing laws. 1e'.. ~ ~~- "< (vii) The Authority shall have the power to perform all other responsibilities that the Council may dele- gate to it and to delegate as many of its func- tions as it deems appropriate to the City Clerk. (c) Orqanization: Bvlaws. (i) The Authority shall elect annually from its mem- bership a chairperson and such other officers as may be required. Bylaws may be adopted by the Authority, which bylaws shall not be inconsistent with the Charter and the Code. (ii) A quorum shall consist of a majority of the mem- bers of the Authority, and a decision of the ma- jority of those present constituting a quorum shall control. (iii) On or before January 31 of each year, the Authori- ty shall file a report with the City Clerk setting forth the number of applications for license acted upon, the number of licenses granted and the num- ber denied and any other actions taken by the Authority during the past year. '.'.'-' ~ II """, 4 ~"-'" \\.. "", (d) Secretary. The City Clerk shall serve as the secretary of the Authority, but shall not be entitled to vote on any matters coming before the Authority. The city Clerk shall, as official secretary of the Authority, desig- nate a person to provide necessary notice of meetings to members and shall also provide secretarial and reporting services for the Authority. The secretary shall prepare and keep minutes of the meetings of the Authority. The records of such meetings, if any, shall be submitted monthly to the City Council and shall become part of the permanent records of the city to be maintained by the City Clerk. The secretary shall perform such other duties delegated t:o her by the Authority or assigned by the Code. (e) Leqal Advisor: Appeals. tA.. iil_ (i) The city Attorney shall be the legal advisor to the Authority and shall represent the Authority and the City in all proceedings before the Author- ity and in all courts where any decision of the Authority is appealed. The City Attorney may employ special counsel when the City Attorney determines that he cannot ethically perform the functions of prosecuting a complaint against a licensee before the Authority and simultaneously representing the Authority. (ii) All appeals from the Authority shall be directly to the District Court except appeals from the denial of new licenses and the transfer of a li- cense which shall be to the City Council of the City of Aspen which shall conduct a hearing de novo. Appeals from the City Council shall be directly to the District Court. (f) Aqqravatinq and mitiqatinq factors considered at show cause hearinqs. ie.'.. \\. "\.. In all cases where a violation of the applicable state or local laws is found at a show cause hearing, the Authority shall consider evidence and statements in mitigation and in aggravation of the violation proper to determine the appropriate penalty. Such evidence and statements may relate to and include, but not be limited to, the following factors: 5 -.'.'..'. ~ 1) Seriousness of the violation; 2) Corrective action taken by the licensee after the violation; 3) Prior violations at the licensed premises by the licensee or the licensee's employees and the ef- fectiveness of prior corrective action; 4) Prior violations at the licensed premises by a prior licensee or the prior licensee's employees, and the sanctions imposed for such violations, if the current licensee or any of the current licen- see's owners, partners, shareholder, directors, officers, or managers held an ownership interest of five (5) percent or more in the entity holding such prior license. 5) Whether the violation is part of a repeated course of conduct or is an isolated occurrence; 6) Likelihood of recurrence; '.,... t ~ All circumstances surrounding the violation; 7) 8) Willfulness of the violation; 9) Length of time the license has been held by the licensee; 10) Previous sanctions imposed against the licensee; and 11) Other factors making the situation with respect to the licensee or the licensed premises unique. (g) optional procedures for the payment of fine in lieu of havinq retail license suspended. (i) (a) Whenever a decision of the Authority suspend- ing a retail license for fourteen days or less becomes final, whether by failure of the retail licensee to appeal the decision or by exhaustion of all appeals and judicial re- view, the retail licensee may, before the operative date of the suspension, petition for permission to pay a fine in lieu of hav- ing his retail license suspended for all or part of the suspension period. Upon the re- e 6 ~e'.. \ " ceipt of the petition, the Authority may, in its sole discretion, stay the proposed sus- pension and cause any investigation to be made which it deems desirable and may, in its sole discretion, grant the petition if it is satisfied: (I) That the public welfare and morals would not be impaired by permitting the retail licensee to operate during the period set for the suspension and that the payment of the fine will achieve the desired disciplinary purposes; (II) That the books and records of the retail licensee are kept in such a manner that the loss of sales of alcoholic beverages which the retail licensee would have suffered had the suspension gone into effect can be determined with reasonable accuracy therefor; and e' ~ . ~ , (III) That the retail licensee has not had his license suspended or revoked, nor had any suspension stayed by payment of a fine, during the two years immediately preceding the date of the motion or complaint which has resulted in a final decision to suspend the retail license. (b) The fine accepted shall be the equivalent to twen- ty percent of the retail licensee's estimated gross revenues from sales of alcoholic beverages during the period of the proposed suspension; except that the fine shall be not less than two hundred dollars nor more than five thousand dol- lars. (c) Payment of any fine pursuant to the provisions of this subsection (i) shall be in the form of cash or in the form of a certified check or cashier's check made payable to the Authority. e (ii) Upon payment of the fine pursuant to subsection (i) of this section, the Authority shall enter its further order permanently staying the imposition of the suspen- sion. The Authority shall cause such moneys to be paid into the general fund of the city of Aspen. 7 A_ lil.. \S_. -'< ".'-.'. t,y \" e - ....... (iii) In connection with any petition pursuant to subsection (i) of this section, the Authority is limited to the granting of such stays as are necessary for it to complete its investigation and make its findings and, if it makes such findings, to the granting of an order permanently staying the imposition of the entire sus- pension or that portion of the suspension not otherwise conditionally stayed. section 3 That section 4-21 of the Municipal Code of the city of Aspen is hereby amended to read as follows: Sec. 4-21. License application fee. Each application for a license filed with the City Clerk shall be accompanied by an application fee in an amount equal to that set forth at section 2-39 of this Code. section 4 That the Municipal Code of the city of Aspen, Colorado, is hereby amended by adding section 2-39 which section shall read as follows: Sec. 2-39. Liquor License Application Fees. (a) (b) (c) (d) (e) (f) For a 3.2 percent beer permit, ten dollars ($10.00); For a special event permit, twenty-five dollars ($25.00) ; For a new license, three hundred fifty dollars ($350.00); For a transfer of location or membership, one hundred fifty dollars ($150.00); For a renewal of license, fifty dollars ($50.00); For an optional premises license, fifty dollars ($50.00). 8 - ~ section 5 That the Municipal Code of the city of Aspen, Colorado, is hereby amended by adding section 4-28.1 which section shall read as follows: Sec. 4-28.1 Report of Disturbances. All licensees shall immediately report to the Aspen Police Department any unlawful or disorderly act, conduct or disturbance committed on the licensed premises. Repeated failure to comply with the requirements of this section shall constitute prima facie evidence that the licensee has failed to conduct the licensed premises in a decent, orderly and respectful manner as required by Regulation 47-105.1 of the Colorado Liquor Code, section 12-47-105, C.R.S. section 6 That section 1 of this Ordinance and the amendments to e section 4-4 of the Aspen Municipal Code as set forth hereinabove shall continue in effect through December 31, 1996, unless the City Council shall adopt an ordinance either extending the effective date hereof or makes the amendments permanent. In the event that the city Council fails to adopt said ordinance, section 4-4 of the Aspen Municipal Code shall read on January 1, 1997, as it did prior to the adoption of this ordinance without further action by the City Council. section 7 This ordinance shall not have any effect on existing litiga- tion and shall not operate as an abatement of any action or proceeding now pending under or by virtue of the ordinances e'" I \ , 9 ~ ,~. .. h.... \t". e , 11.. "l, repealed or amended as herein provided, and the same shall be construed and concluded under such prior ordinances. section 8 If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or portion of this ordinance is for any reason held invalid or unconstitutional in a court of competent jurisdiction, such portion shall be deemed a separate, distinct and independent provision and shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions thereof. section 9 A public hearing /jJ1aA~ ~ on the ordinance shall be held on the day of , 1994, in the city council Chambers, Aspen City Hall, Aspen, Colorado. INTRODUCED, READ AND ORDERED PUBLISHED as provided by law /-'/ day of by the City Council ?l1Z~ of the city of Aspen on the , 1994. ~~IY~ S. Bennett, Mayor John ATTEST: FINALLY adopted, 7htv.-CA-- passed and approved this ~ day of , 1994. ~ >. g~ John S. Bennett, Mayor 10 - Ill. i%... 't\,__ -"'.'.. 1\' '\ "<. ATTEST: jw218.1 n