Senate Bill No. 545
(By Senator Hunter)
____________
[Introduced February 12, 2007; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §11-16-8
of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended; to amend and reenact
§29-22B-1202
of said
code; to amend and reenact
§60-3A-16 of said code
; and to
amend and reenact
§60-7-10 of said code
, all relating to
increasing the distance that a beer licensee must be located
from a public playground, day care facility, school or church
from three hundred to one thousand feet; and providing that a
limited video lottery retailer licensee, a retail liquor
licensee and a private club licensee may not be located within
one thousand feet of a
public playground, day care facility,
school or church.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §11-16-8
of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted; that
§29-22B-1202
of said code be amended
and reenacted; that
§60-3A-16 of said code be amended and reenacted
; and that
§60-7-10
of said code be amended and reenacted,
all to read as follows:
CHAPTER 11. TAXATION.
ARTICLE 16. NONINTOXICATING BEER.
§11-16-8. Form of application for license; fee and bond; refusal
of license.
(a) A license may be issued by the commissioner to any person
who submits an application therefor, accompanied by a license fee,
and, where required, a bond, stating under oath:
(1) The name and residence of the applicant, the duration of
such the residency, that the applicant has been a resident of the
state for a period of two years next preceding the date of the
application and that the applicant is twenty-one years of age. If
the applicant is a firm, association, partnership, limited
partnership or corporation, the application shall include the
residence of the members or officers for a period of two years next
preceding the date of
such the application:
Provided, That if any
person, firm, partnership, limited partnership, association or
corporation applies for a license as a distributor, such person, or
in the case of a firm, partnership, limited partnership or
association, the members or officers thereof shall state under oath
that each has been a bona fide resident of the state for four years
preceding the date of
such the application;
(2) The place of birth of applicant, that he or she is a citizen of the United States and of good moral character and, if a
naturalized citizen, when and where naturalized; and, if a
corporation organized or authorized to do business under the laws
of the state, when and where incorporated, with the name and
address of each officer; that each officer is a citizen of the
United States and a person of good moral character; and if a firm,
association, partnership or limited partnership, the place of birth
of each member of the firm, association, partnership or limited
partnership, and that each member is a citizen of the United States
and if a naturalized citizen, when and where naturalized, each of
whom must qualify and sign the application:
Provided, That the
requirements as to residence shall not apply to the officers of a
corporation which shall apply for a retailer's license, but the
officers, agent or employee who shall manage and be in charge of
the licensed premises shall possess all of the qualifications
required of an individual applicant for a retailer's license,
including the requirement as to residence;
(3) The particular place for which the license is desired and
a detailed description thereof;
(4) The name of the owner of the building and, if the owner is
not the applicant, that
such the applicant is the actual and bona
fide lessee of the premises;
(5) That the place or building in which is proposed to do
business conforms to all laws of health, fire and zoning regulations applicable thereto, and is a safe and proper place or
building, and is not within
three hundred one thousand feet of any
public playground, daycare facility,
school or church, measured
from front door to front door, along the street or streets:
Provided, That this requirement shall not apply to a Class B
license, or to any place now occupied by a beer licensee, so long
as it is continuously so occupied: Provided, however, That the
prohibition against locating any such proposed business in a place
or building within three hundred one thousand feet of any public
playground, daycare facility,
school shall does not apply to any
college or university that has notified the commissioner, in
writing, that it has no objection to the location of any such
proposed business in a place or building within three hundred one
thousand feet of such the college or university;
(6) That the applicant is not incarcerated and has not during
the five years immediately preceding the date of said the
application been convicted of a felony;
(7) That the applicant is the only person in any manner
pecuniarily interested in the business so asked to be licensed, and
that no other person shall be in any manner pecuniarily interested
therein during the continuance of the license; and
(8) That the applicant has not during five years next
immediately preceding the date of said the application had a
nonintoxicating beer license revoked.
(b) The provisions and requirements of subsection (a) of this
section are mandatory prerequisites for the issuance, and in the
event any applicant fails to qualify under the same, license shall
be refused. In addition to the information furnished in any
application, the commissioner may make such additional and
independent investigation of each applicant, and of the place to be
occupied, as deemed considered necessary or advisable; and for this
reason each and all applications, with license fee and bond, must
be filed thirty days prior to the beginning of any fiscal year, and
if application is for an unexpired portion of any fiscal year,
issuance of license may be withheld for such a reasonable time as
necessary for investigation.
(c) The commissioner may refuse a license to any applicant
under the provisions of this article if the commissioner shall be
of the opinion:
(1) That the applicant is not a suitable person to be
licensed;
(2) That the place to be occupied by the applicant is not a
suitable place; or is within three hundred one thousand feet of any
public playground, daycare facility,
school or church, measured
from front door to front door along the street or streets:
Provided, That this requirement shall not apply to a Class B
licensee, or to any place now occupied by a beer licensee, so long
as it is continuously so occupied: Provided, however, That the prohibition against locating any such place to be occupied by an
applicant within three hundred one thousand feet of any public
playground, daycare facility,
school shall does not apply to any
college or university that has notified the commissioner, in
writing, that it has no objection to the location of any such place
within three hundred one thousand feet of such the college or
university; or
(3) That the license should not be issued for reason of
conduct declared to be unlawful by this article.
CHAPTER 29. MISCELLANEOUS BOARDS AND OFFICERS.
ARTICLE 22B. LIMITED VIDEO LOTTERY.
§29-22B-1202. No limited video lottery retailer license for
premises within 150 feet of another licensed
premises; no two license retailer locations
within a common structure.
(a) A limited video lottery retailer license may not be
granted for operation of video lottery terminals on a premises if,
at the time of application for the license, the applicant's
premises are within one hundred fifty feet of, or has an external
structural connection not amounting to a common internal wall to,
a premises that already has a license for video lottery terminals.
(1) A measurement of the distance between two premises must be
taken between the nearest exterior wall of each premises.
(2) When determining common ownership, the commission shall consider direct as well as indirect ownership.
(3) The place to be occupied by an applicant may not be
located within one thousand feet of any public playground, daycare
facility or
school: Provided, That this provision does not apply
to any college or university that has notified the commissioner, in
writing, that it has no objection to the location of any
limited
video lottery retailer
licensee within one thousand feet of the
college or university
: Provided, however, That the provisions of
this subdivision do not apply to the location of licensees
operating under a valid license on the effective date of this
subdivision. The provisions of this subdivision are applicable to
any current location that ceases to be licensed and an applicant
applies for a new license at that location.
(b) A premises for which a private club license to dispense
alcoholic liquors, under provisions of article seven, chapter sixty
of this code, or a Class A nonintoxicating beer license, under the
provisions of article sixteen, chapter eleven of this code, was
granted, was applied for, or the transfer of which was validly
contracted for prior to the first day of January, two thousand one,
is not subject to subsections (a) and (c) of this section.
(c) No more than one restricted access adult-only facility
shall hold a limited video lottery retailer license to offer video
lottery terminals in any single structure under one roof.
CHAPTER 60. STATE CONTROL OF ALCOHOLIC LIQUORS.
ARTICLE 3A. SALES BY RETAIL LIQUOR LICENSEES.
§60-3A-16. Restriction on location of retail outlets.
No retail outlet may be located within
the immediate vicinity
of a school or church: Provided, That the provisions of this
section shall not apply to the location of a retail licensee who,
on the date of the passage of this act, holds a license for the
retail sale of wine, fortified wine or nonintoxicating beer at such
location. one thousand feet of any public playground, daycare
facility or
school: Provided, That this provision does not apply
to any college or university that has notified the commissioner, in
writing, that it has no objection to the location of any
limited
video lottery retailer
licensee within one thousand feet of the
college or university
: Provided, however, That the provisions of
this section do not apply to the location of licensees operating
under a valid license on the effective date of this section. The
provisions of this section are applicable to any current location
that ceases to be licensed and an applicant applies for a new
license at that location.
ARTICLE 7. LICENSES TO PRIVATE CLUBS.
§60-7-10. Duties and powers of commissioner.
The commissioner is hereby authorized:
(a) To enforce the provisions of this article.
(b) To enter the premises of any licensee at reasonable times
for the purpose of inspecting the same, and determining the compliance of said licensee with the provisions of this article and
any rules and regulations promulgated by the commissioner pursuant
to the provisions of this article.
(c) To promulgate such reasonable rules and regulations as may
be necessary for the execution and enforcement of the provisions of
this article, which may include, but shall not be limited to, the
hours during which licensees may sell alcoholic liquors, and the
use, handling, service and sale of such alcoholic liquors. Such
rules and regulations shall be promulgated in accordance with the
provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a of the code in
like manner as if said article three of said chapter twenty-nine-a
were set forth in extenso in this subdivision.
(d) To issue subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum for the
purposes of conducting hearings under the provisions of section
thirteen of this article, which subpoenas and subpoenas duces tecum
shall be issued in the time, for the fees, and shall be enforced in
the manner specified in section one, article five, chapter
twenty-nine-a of this code with like effect as if said section one
were set forth in extenso in this subdivision.
(e) Shall refuse an application by an applicant if the place
to be occupied by an applicant is located within one thousand feet
of any public playground, daycare facility or school: Provided,
That this provision does not apply to any college or university
that has notified the commissioner, in writing, that it has no objection to the location of the place to be occupied by the
applicant if within one thousand feet of the college or university:
Provided, however, That the provisions of this subsection do not
apply to the location of licensees operating under a valid license
on the effective date of this subsection. The provisions of this
section are applicable to any current location that ceases to be
licensed and an applicant applies for a new license at that
location.
The authority granted in subdivisions (a), (b), and (d) of
this section may also be exercised by the duly authorized agents of
the commissioner.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the distance
that a beer licensee must be located from a school or church from
three hundred to one thousand feet and includes public playgrounds
and daycare facilities as locations requiring a one thousand foot
distance for a beer licensee business
and to provide that a
limited
video lottery retailer licensee, a retail liquor licensee, and a
private club licensee may not be located within one thousand feet
of a
public playground, daycare facility, school or church.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.