LEGISLATIVE HISTORY
Public Safety - Beer and Alcoholic Beverages Committee
ORDINANCE NO. BL2009-459
An ordinance to amend the Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08 to add requirements under the Responsible Vendor Act, and to reflect changes in state beer laws including authorizing increased penalties for the sale of beer to minors.
WHEREAS, the State of Tennessee has adopted changes to the state laws regulating beer; and,
WHEREAS, the Metropolitan Beer Permit Board derives its authority to regulate beer from state law and is directly impacted by the changes made in the state law; and,
WHEREAS, the current ordinances establishing the Beer Permit Board, and its authority do not include the Responsible Vendor Act and do not reflect other recent changes in state law.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ENACTED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE METROPOLITAN GOVERNMENT OF NASHVILLE AND DAVIDSON COUNTY:
Section 1. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.010 "Definitions" is hereby amended by adding a new term and definition after the definition of “Church” and before the definition of “Metropolitan Beer Permit Board” to read as follows:
“Clerk” means any person working in a capacity to sell beer directly to consumers for off-premises consumption.
Section 2. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.010 "Definitions" is hereby further amended by adding two new terms and definitions after the definition of “Resident” and before the definition of “Retailer” to read as follows:
“Responsible vendor” means a person, corporation or other entity that has been issued a permit to sell beer for off-premises consumption and has received certification by the Tennessee Alcoholic Beverage Commission under the “Tennessee Responsible Vendor Act of 2006,” Tennessee Code Annotated § 57-5-601, et seq.
“Responsible vendor program” means the program under which vendors and clerks can be certified.
Section 3. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.010 "Definitions" is hereby further amended by adding a new term and definition after the definition of “Sell” and before the definition of “Wholesale beer permit” to read as follows:
"Vendor" means a person, corporation or other entity that has been issued a permit to sell beer for off-premises consumption.
Section 4. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.110 "Suspension and revocation of permit--Authority" is amended by naming the first paragraph as Section A and by renaming existing subsections in numerical order to read as follows:
7.08.110 Suspension and revocation of permit--Authority.
A. The metropolitan beer permit board shall have the power to revoke or suspend, and shall be charged with the duty of revoking or suspending, any permits issued by it, upon notice to the permittee and a hearing thereon, for any violation of any provision of state law regulating the sale, storage and transportation of alcoholic beverages or for any violation of any provision of this code or any other ordinance of the metropolitan government or of any private act, county court resolution or City of Nashville ordinance which has the effect of an ordinance of the metropolitan government regulating beer or other intoxicating beverage, or when the permittee:
1. Operates a disorderly place;
2. Permits boisterous or disorderly conduct on the premises;
3. Has been convicted by final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction of a crime involving moral turpitude;
4. Permits minors to congregate about the premises;
5. Sells or transfers the equipment or assets of the business authorized by his permit to another for the purpose of conducting the business on the same premises, unless he shall notify the board in writing immediately upon such sale or transfer, and shall surrender his license within thirty days after said sale or transfer;
6. Has made a false statement of a material fact in any application or notice to the board;
7. Sells or allows to be sold on the premises of the permittee any beer to any person under the age of twenty-one years; or
8. Sells or allows to be sold on the premises of the permittee beer to any person using food stamps issued pursuant to state or federal law for the purchase of such beer.
Section 5. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.110 "Suspension and revocation of permit--Authority" is amended by adding new paragraphs, paragraphs B and C, to read as follows:
B. Pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated § 57-5-608, the beer board shall not revoke or suspend a permit because of the sale of beer to a minor if, at the time of the sale: (1) the permit holder was a responsible vendor, and (2) the clerk who made the sale was certified under the Responsible Vendor Program, or had been employed for 61 days or less. If the permit holder’s certification has been revoked, the permit holder shall be punished by the beer board as if the vendor were not certified as a responsible vendor.
C. In lieu of any suspensions that might have been imposed but for the restrictions set forth in subsection B; the Beer Permit board may impose a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00). If the beer board determines that a clerk of an off-premises beer permit holder certified under the Responsible Vendor Program sold beer to a minor, the beer board shall report the name of the clerk to the alcoholic beverage commission within fifteen (15) days after such determination by the board.
Section 6. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.150 "Suspension and revocation of permit--Civil penalty option" is hereby amended by deleting section A in its entirety and inserting a new section A to read as follows:
A. In addition to its authority in Section 7.08.110, the beer permit board may, at the time it imposes a suspension, offer a permit holder vendor the alternative of paying a civil penalty not to exceed one thousand dollars ($1,000.00) provided however that the amount of the civil penalty may be increased to an amount not to exceed two-thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500.00) in the case of a sale to a minor by a permit holder that is not a responsible vendor. If a civil penalty is offered as an alternative to revocation or suspension, the holder shall have seven (7) days within which to pay the civil penalty before the revocation or suspension shall be imposed. If the civil penalty is paid within that time, the revocation or suspension shall be deemed withdrawn. Payment of the civil penalty in lieu of revocation or suspension by a permit holder shall be an admission by the holder of the violation so charged and shall be paid to the exclusion of any other penalty that may be imposed.
Section 7. Metropolitan Code of Laws 7.08.150 "Suspension and revocation of permit--Civil penalty option” is amended by adding a new paragraph, paragraph F.
F. A beer permit of a responsible vendor may be permanently revoked only if the permit holder has had two (2) or more violations of selling beer to a minor within a twelve (12) month time period.
Section 8. This ordinance shall take effect from and after its final passage, the welfare of the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County requiring it.
Sponsored by: Karen Bennett, Duane Dominy
Amendment No. 1
To
Ordinance No. BL2009-459
Madam President:
I move to amend Ordinance No. BL2009-459 by amending Section 6 by deleting the words “permit holder vendor”, wherein it appears in subsection A. of the new Section 7.08.150, and substituting in lieu thereof the words “permit holder”.
Sponsored by: Karen Bennett
| LEGISLATIVE HISTORY |
|
|---|---|
| Introduced: | May 19, 2009 |
| Passed First Reading: | May 19, 2009 |
| Referred to: | Budget & Finance Committee Public Safety - Beer and Alcoholic Beverages Committee |
| Deferred: | June 2, 2009 |
| Amended: | June 16, 2009 |
| Passed Second Reading: | June 16, 2009 |
| Passed Third Reading: | July 21, 2009 |
| Approved: | July 23, 2009 |
| By: | |