Senate Bill No. 464
(By Senator Tomblin, Mr. President)
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[Introduced March 24, 1997; referred to the
Committee on Natural Resources.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section five, article seven, chapter
sixty of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the sale and
service of alcoholic beverages in state parks.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section five, article seven, chapter sixty of the code
of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 7. LICENSES TO PRIVATE CLUBS.
§60-7-5. Investigation by commissioner; issuance or refusal of
license; special requirements for clubs at parks and
airports; form of license; license valid at one
location only; expiration and renewal;
transferability.
(a) Upon receipt of the application referred to in section four of this article, together with the accompanying fee and
bond, the commissioner shall conduct an investigation to
determine the accuracy of the matters contained in such
application and whether applicant is a bona fide private club of
good reputation in the community in which it shall operate. For
the purpose of conducting such investigation, the commissioner
may withhold the granting or refusal 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
community in which it shall operate and that there is no false
statement contained in such application, the commissioner shall
issue a license authorizing the applicant to sell alcoholic
liquors as provided in section three of this article, and
otherwise shall refuse to issue such license, except that in the
case of an application by a corporation or association to operate
a private club in connection with:
(1) A state park, the director of the department of natural
resources must grant his or her approval before the license can
be issued; or
(2) A county or municipal park, or an airport, the authority
governing the park or airport must grant its approval before the
license can be issued.
A license may not be issued for a private club in any state
park unless (i) There is a facility containing twenty or more rooms under one roof which are available for sleeping
accommodations; and (ii) a dining facility comparable to the
dining facility for the proposed private club will be available
to serve meals to the general public. A license may not be
issued for a private club in any county or municipal park, or an
airport, unless a dining facility comparable to the dining
facility for the proposed private club will be available to serve
meals to the general public.
(b) Upon refusal to issue such license the commissioner
shall make and enter an order denying such application, which
denial and refusal shall be final unless a hearing is requested
in accordance with the provisions of section thirteen of this
article. When such refusal or denial becomes final the
commissioner shall forthwith refund to the applicant his or her
fees and bond accompanying said the application.
(c) Such license shall be of such form and design as the
commissioner may prescribe by reasonable rule or regulation, and
shall authorize the licensee to sell alcoholic liquors at only
one location.
(d) Such license shall expire on the thirtieth day of June
next following the date of issue and may be renewed upon the same
showing as required for the issuance of the initial license,
together with the payment of fees and filing of the bond as
required by this article.
(e) A license issued under the provisions of this article
shall may not be transferable.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to remove the lodging
requirement for the issuance of a liquor license to a state park.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language
that would be added.)