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Home My WebLink Aboutordinance.council.024-04ORDINANCE NO. 24, SERIES OF 2004 AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, PERMITTING RETAIL LIQUOR STORES AND LIQUOR- LICENSED DRUGSTORES, FOLLOWING ~RECEIPT OF AN APPROVED APPLICATION, TO CONDUCT TASTINGS, ESTABLISHING AFEE FOR THE PERMIT, AND ALLOWING HOTEL OR REST~U~N¥ ~CENSE~s TO PERMIT CUSTOMERS TO RESEAL AND REMOVE OPEN VINOUS LIQUOR CONTAINERS FROM THE LICENSED PREMISES. WHEREAS, Colorado H.B. 1021, effective July 1, 2004, allows city governments to permit retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore tastings (pursuant to conditions) and allows a hotel or restaurant licensee to permit a customer to reseal and remove from the premises one opened container of partially consumed vinous liquor purchased on the premises (pursuant to conditions), and WHEREAS, the Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority reviewed the proposed rules referenced herein and recommended approval of their adoption (noting that the rules could be repealed if abused), and WHEREAS, concerning the liquor store and drugstore tastings, the Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority may examine the applications on a case by case basis to determine if the tastings would create a public safety risk to the neighborhood. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF ASPEN, COLORADO, THAT: Section 1. That the Municipal Code of the City of Aspen, Colorado, is hereby amended by adding a section which shall read as follows: 5.04.190 Retail Liquor Store or Liquor-Licensed Drugstore Tastings. A retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee who wishes to conduct tastings may submit an application or application renewal to the Aspen Liquor Licensing Authority (hereinafter the "LLA"). The LLA may reject the application if the applicant fails to establish that he or she is able to conduct tastings without violating the provisions of the Colorado Liquor Code, without violating Title 5, entitled "Alcoholic Beverages," of the Aspen Municipal Code, or without creating a public safety risk to the neighborhood. The LLA may establish its own application procedure and may charge a reasonable application fee. Tasting shall be subject to the following limitations: (1) Tastings shall be conducted only by a person who has completed a server training program that meets the standards established by the Liquor Enforcement Division in the Department of Revenue and who is either a retail liquor store licensee or a liquor-licensed drugstore licensee, or an employee of a licensee, and only on a licensee's licensed premises. (2) The alcohol used in tastings shall be purchased through a licensed wholesaler, licensed brew pub, or winery licensed pursuant to Section 12-47-403 at a cost that is not less than the laid-in cost of sUch alcohol. (3) The size of an individual alcohol sample shall not exceed one ounce of malt or vinous liquor or one-half of one ounce of spirituous liquor. (4) Tastings shall not exceed a total of five (5) hours in duration per day, which need not be consecutive. (5) Tastings shall be conducted only during the operating hours in which the licensee on whose premises the tastings occur is permitted to sell alcohol beverages, and in no case earlier than 11 a.m. or later than 7 p.m. (6) The licensee shall prohibit patrons from leaving the licensed premises with an unconsumed sample. (7) The licensee shall promptly remove all open and unconsumed alcohol beverage samples from the licensed premises or shall destroy the samples immediately following the completion of the tasting. (8) The licensee shall not serve a person who is under twenty-one years of age or who is visibly intoxicated. (9) The licensee shall not serve more than four (4) individual samples to a patron during a tasting. (10) Alcohol samples shall be in open containers and shall be provided to a patron free of charge. (11) Tastings may occur on no more than four (4) of the six (6) days from a Monday to the following Saturday, not to exceed one hundred four (104) days per year. (12) No manufacturer of spirituous vinous liquors shall induce a licensee through free goods or financial or in-kind assistance to favor the manufacturer's products being sampled at a tasting. The licensee shall bear the financial and all other responsibility for a tasting. (13) A violation of this code provision or of Section 12-47-801, C.R.S., by a retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee, whether by his or her employees, agents, or otherwise, shall be the responsibility of the retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee who is conducting the tasting. (14) A retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee conducting a tasting shall be subject to the same revocation, suspension, and enforcement provisions as otherwise apply to the licensee. (15) Nothing in this code provision shall affect the ability of a Colorado winery licensed pursuant to Sections 12-47-402 or 12-47-403, C.R.S. to conduct a tasting pursuant to the authority of Sections 12-47-402(2) or 12-47-403 (2)(e), C.R.S. Section 2. That the Municipal Code of the City of Aspen, Colorado, is hereby amended by adding a subsection (i) to 2.12.070, liquor license application fees, which shall read as follows: (i) For a tastings permit, one hundred dollars ($100.00). Section 3. That the Municipal Code of the City of Aspen, Colorado, is hereby amended by adding a section which shall read as follows: 5.08.90 Reseal and Removal of Open Vinous Liquor Container. A hotel or restaurant licensee, or his or her employee, may permit a customer to reseal and remove from the licensed premises one opened container of partially consumed vinous liquor purchased on the premises so long as the original container does not contain more than 750 milliliters of vinous liquor. Section 4. This ordinance shall not have any effect on existing litigation and shall not operate as an abatement of any action or proceeding now pending under or by virtue of the ordinances amended as herein provided, and the same shall be construed and concluded under such prior ordinances. Section 5. 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 6. A public heating on the ordinance shall be held on the [~day of ~ ,2004, in the City Council Chambers, Aspen City Hall, 130 South Galena, Aspen, Colorado. INTRODUCED, READ AND ORDERED PUBLISHED as provided by law by the City Council of thc City of Aspen on thc ~_~day of ~ 2004. ATTEST: Kathryn S. Koc~/~iW Clerk FINALLy adopted, Passed, and approved this ~ day of ~~-.~_..._.~ , 2004. (~ ATTEST: Kathryn S. Koc~c~City Clerk