The original Alcoholic Beverage regulations of Chapter 2 were approved in 1970. Over the years, there were a total of 37 amendments. Most of these amendments addressed a singular issue which created unintended issues – duplicative and contradicting regulations.
For this amendment, staff comprehensively reviewed this Chapter, compared the regulations to peer municipalities, and compared the regulations to State Statutes and liquor regulations.
This ordinance amendment:
Reorganized the Chapter. The Chapter has been reorganized to consolidate the definitions and general requirements into one section for ease of use. In some instances there were duplicate regulations and sometimes contradicting regulations in different sections; those regulations were consolidated and corrected. All of the general provisions were consolidated into Article 1.
Updated regulations to match State Statutes. Over the last 10 years, the State legislature passed several bills making changes to 38 sections of the Liquor Control Law. Several of our requirements were in conflict with State Statutes. These areas were changed to match the language contained in State Statute and added reference to the specific State Statute section.
Reduced number of licenses. The current Alcoholic Beverage Chapter includes 48 different license types. Several of these license types do not corelate to license types issued by the State of Missouri. The proposed ordinance reduces the different license types to 23 licenses types and these are correlated to the licenses offered by the State. Each license type outlines the general parameters for that license (e.g., hours of operation, the activities allowed, any restrictions on the number of licenses, etc.). These requirements are tied directly to State Statues and liquor regulations.
Sunday Sales and Tasting Permit. The proposed Alcoholic Beverage Chapter will treat Sunday sales permits and tasting permits the same as it is handled by the State – as an add-on to a license. Both of these permits are reviewed and approved administratively.
Modified and clarified the process. The current ordinance requires City Council approval of all liquor licenses (including a transfer of license, expansion of an existing premise and change of ownership) following a public hearing. The proposed ordinance would require City Council approval only when the licensed premise is within 300 feet of residential property, a church or a school. If the licensed premise is greater than 300 feet from residential property, a church or a school, the license can be administratively approved following review and compliance with the ordinance. These review standards would apply to transfer license and expansion of existing premise. The proposed ordinance removes the two-thirds (2/3) majority to approve if the license premise is within 300 feet of residential, a church or a school. The proposed ordinance clearly identifies the process (i.e., timing of the mailed notices, the notification requirement and how that is measured)
Modified Process – Change of Ownership. As mentioned above, the current ordinance requires all change of ownerships to be approved by City Council. The proposed ordinance will required City Council approval if the change is ownership affects more than 25% of ownership. If the change of ownership is less than 25%, the change can be approved administratively.
License Fees. The current ordinance requires the entire fee regardless when the application is submitted. The proposed ordinance prorates the fee; those applications submitted or approved after January 1st would pay one-half (1/2) the normal fee. Those applications submitted or approved after April 1st would pay the normal fee but the expiration date would be June 30th the following year.
Staff will bring a forward an amendment to the fee schedule changing the liquor license fees to an upcoming City Council meeting.