[HISTORY: Adopted by the City Council of the City of Nanticoke
as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
[Adopted 4-2-1990 by Ord. No. 12-1990 (Ch. 13, Part 3, of
the 2004 Code of Ordinances)]
The City Council of the City of Nanticoke hereby declares the
purpose of this article is to regulate the hours of operation of BYOB
clubs in order to preserve the residential character of neighborhoods
and to protect the rights of its citizens to the quiet enjoyment of
the same. It is the express purpose of this article to strike a balance
between the constitutional rights of the BYOB club owners and patrons
and the constitutional rights of the residents of the City of Nanticoke.
The following words or phrases, when used in this article, unless
the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the meanings ascribed
to them in this section:
Any and all beverages, including malt beverages, which contain
alcohol, liquor or such other intoxicating substances as are further
defined in the Pennsylvania Liquor Code, 47 P.S. § 1-101
et seq.
Any business facility such as a dance hall, club or association
not licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board, wherein patrons
21 years of age and older may, after payment of a fee, cover charge
or membership fee, consume alcoholic beverages which said patrons
have carried into the premises. This definition does not include a
facility which is rented for a limited period of time, not to exceed
12 hours, by individual(s) or an organization for the purpose of a
private party in which alcoholic beverages are carried into the premises.
A building or structure wholly or partially used for living
and sleeping space by human occupants.
Those classes of residential zones specified in the Nanticoke City Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 500 of this Code.
It shall be unlawful for any person or persons who own, operate,
lease, manage or control a BYOB club to:
It shall be unlawful for any patron of a BYOB club to be present
on the BYOB club premises between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 8:00
a.m., each day.
In the event any of the unlawful activities specified herein
is conducted by or in the name of a corporation, partnership, joint
venture, trust, firm or association, in addition to (corporate) entity
liability, the officers, agents or principals of said corporation,
partnership, joint venture, trust, firm or association shall be deemed
in violation of this article as well as the person or persons engaged
in the unlawful activity.
The unlawful activities specified herein shall constitute separate
and distinct offenses for each and every day in which said activities
are conducted.
[Amended 12-1-2004 by Ord. No. 16-2004]
A.
Any person or persons desiring to operate or continue to operate
a BYOB club shall file with the License Clerk of the City of Nanticoke
an application for a BYOB club permit, which application shall include
the following information: the name and address of the BYOB club;
a statement whether the business premises is leased or owned by the
BYOB club; the name and address of the lessor of the business premises,
if applicable; the nature of the ownership of the BYOB club, i.e.,
corporation, partnership, joint venture, association; the names and
address of the officers and/or agents of the BYOB club; the names
and addresses of any and all persons who possess an ownership and/or
financial interest in the BYOB club; and a notarized affidavit that
the applicant has obtained all applicable licenses and paid all applicable
taxes and fees for operating such a club.
B.
The License Clerk shall determine whether the BYOB club fully and
completely complies with the provisions and requirements of this article
within 10 days following the date on which the application is received.
If the License Clerk determines that the applicant fully and completely
complies with the provisions hereof, the Clerk shall issue a BYOB
club permit. If the License Clerk determines that the applicant does
not fully and completely comply with the provisions hereof, the Clerk
shall deny the issuance of a BYOB club permit and shall furnish written
evidence of the same to the applicant together with the reason(s)
for the denial.
C.
The club shall pay an administrative fee, in an amount as established
from time to time by resolution of City Council, for a BYOB club permit,
which shall be effective for a period of one year following the date
of issuance. The City of Nanticoke reserves the right to revoke the
BYOB club permit upon failure of the club to fully and completely
comply with the provisions of this and other applicable ordinances
in the City of Nanticoke.
[Amended 12-1-2004 by Ord. No. 16-2004]
Any person, firm or corporation who shall violate any provision
of this article, upon conviction thereof, shall be sentenced to pay
a fine of not more than $1,000 plus costs or to a term of imprisonment
not to exceed 90 days, or both. Each day that a violation of this
article continues shall constitute a separate offense.
[Adopted 9-2-2009 by Ord. No. 11-2009]
This article shall be known as the "Social Host Accountability
Ordinance."
The following definitions shall apply regarding this article:
Ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl, or spirits of wine,
from whatever source or by whatever process produced.
Includes alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every
liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine or beer,
and which contains 1/2 of 1% or more of alcohol by volume, and which
is fit for beverage purposes either alone or when diluted, mixed or
combined with other substances.
Any person less than 18 years of age.
A party or gathering of two or more persons at a residence
or on other private property or rented public property upon which
loud or unruly conduct occurs. Such loud or unruly conduct constitutes
a public nuisance and includes but is not limited to:
Excessive noise;
Excessive traffic created by the gathering;
Obstruction of public streets and/or the presence of unruly
crowds that have spilled into public streets;
Public drunkenness or unlawful public consumption of alcohol
or alcoholic beverages;
Assaults, batteries, fights, domestic violence or other disturbances
of the peace;
Vandalism;
Littering; or
Any other conduct which constitutes a threat to the public health,
safety or quiet enjoyment of residential property for the general
welfare.
Any person less than 21 years of age.
Includes, but is not limited to:
The person who owns, rents, leases or otherwise has control
of the premises where the gathering occurs; a
The person in charge of the premises; and/or
The person who organized the event. If the person responsible
for the event is a juvenile, then the juvenile and the parents or
guardians of that juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for
the civil fine and/or for the costs incurred for public safety services
pursuant to this chapter.
The costs associated with responses by law enforcement, fire
and other emergency response providers to loud or unruly gatherings,
including but not limited to:
The portion of the cost of salaries and benefits of law enforcement,
fire or other emergency response personnel for the amount of time
spent responding to, remaining at, or otherwise dealing with loud
or unruly gathering(s), and the administrative costs attributable
to such response(s);
The cost of any medical treatment to or for any law enforcement,
fire or other emergency response personnel who are injured responding
to, remaining at or leaving the scene of a loud or unruly gathering;
and
The cost of the use of any City equipment or property and the
cost of repairing any City equipment or property damaged in responding
to, remaining at or leaving the scene of a loud or unruly gathering.
Any person less than 21 years of age and shall have the same
meaning as "minor," defined above.
The purposes of this article are:
A.
To protect the public health, safety and general welfare;
B.
To promote the reduction of underage drinking by imposing a civil
fine on persons responsible for loud or unruly gatherings where alcohol
is consumed by, served to or in the possession of underage persons;
C.
To facilitate the enforcement of laws prohibiting the service to,
consumption of or possession of alcoholic beverages by underage persons;
and
D.
To offset the municipal costs associated with providing fire, police
and other emergency services to loud or unruly gatherings by imposing
a civil fee upon social hosts and/or landowners who knowingly allow
such loud or unruly gatherings to occur on their premises, at their
residences, or at rented facilities where alcoholic beverages are
served to, consumed by, or in the possession of underage persons.
The City Council of the City of Nanticoke finds as follows:
A.
The City of Nanticoke has the authority to enact laws which promote
the public health, safety and general welfare of its residents;
B.
The occurrence of loud or unruly gatherings on private property where
alcoholic beverages are served to, consumed by, or in the possession
of underage persons is harmful to the underage persons themselves
and is a threat to the public health, safety or quiet enjoyment of
residential property and the general welfare;
C.
The City of Nanticoke has made numerous and substantial efforts to
enforce underage drinking laws; yet, despite these efforts, alcohol
use by youth remains a serious problem in the City, contributing significantly
to the incidence of adolescent crime, addiction, sexual assault, truancy,
driving under the influence of alcohol, and motor vehicle crashes
involving alcohol and causing injury and/or death;
D.
Underage persons often obtain alcoholic beverages at gatherings held
at private residences or at rented residential and commercial premises
that are under the control of a person who knows or should know of
the service to, possession by, and/or consumption of alcohol by underage
persons. Persons responsible for the occurrence of loud or unruly
gatherings on private property over which they have possession or
control have failed to ensure that alcoholic beverages are not served
to, consumed by, or possessed by underage persons at these gatherings;
E.
Residents have failed to prevent the occurrence or reoccurrence of
loud or unruly gatherings, including those where alcoholic beverages
are served to, consumed by, or possessed by underage persons, on private
property, which seriously disrupts neighboring residents' quiet
enjoyment of their property; and
F.
Control of loud or unruly gatherings on private property where alcoholic
beverages are served to, consumed by, or in the possession of underage
persons is necessary when such activity is determined to be a threat
to the peace, health, safety or general welfare of the public.
A.
No person shall knowingly permit or host a gathering at his or her
place of residence or other private property, place or premises or
host a gathering at a public place under his or her control where
two or more persons under the age of 21 are present, where the gathering
is loud or unruly, and where alcoholic beverages are in the possession
of, being consumed by, or served to any underage person. Any person
violating this section shall be subject to the following fines and
penalties:
(1)
Violation/civil fine. It shall be a civil violation for a person
to knowingly conduct or allow a loud or unruly gathering where alcohol
is served to, consumed by, or in the possession of an underage person
or persons on premises owned by the person responsible for the event,
on premises rented by or to the person responsible for the event,
on premises where the person responsible for the event resides, or
on premises where the person responsible for the event is in control
of such premises during the loud or unruly gathering. The Nanticoke
police may immediately issue a citation for this civil violation upon
evidence of the violation. There is no requirement of a first warning
in order for the police to issue this civil citation.
(a)
Civil fine. A first violation of this section shall result in
a citation with a three-hundred-dollar fine. A second violation shall
result in a citation with a five-hundred-dollar fine. A third or subsequent
violation shall result in a citation with a one-thousand-dollar fine.
(b)
The City shall give notice of a violation of this section by
issuing a citation to any and all responsible persons identified by
the City within 30 days of the violation.
(c)
The civil fine prescribed in Subsection (A)(1)(a) above is in addition to any civil cost recovery fee for public safety responses that may be assessed pursuant to Subsection A(2) of this section, below.
(d)
In the event that the responsible person who is in violation
of this section is a juvenile, then the juvenile and the parents or
guardians of that juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for
the civil violation and resulting fine.
(2)
Imposition of civil cost recovery fee for public safety responses.
In addition to any civil fine imposed for violation of this section,
when any loud or unruly gathering where alcohol is served to, consumed
by, or in the possession of underage person(s) occurs on private property,
and a police officer at the scene determines that there is a threat
to the public peace, health, safety or general welfare, the police
officer shall give the person(s) responsible for the event warning
that a second or follow-up violation of this section on the same date
or on any later date will result in his/her/their liability for the
cost of providing public safety services (i.e., fire, ambulance, police
and other emergency providers). The requirement of a first warning
does not limit the ability of public safety personnel to issue a civil
citation for the imposition of civil penalties for cost recovery on
the same day that the warning is given if the warning does not end
the loud or unruly gathering. The cost recovery for public safety
responses shall be separate and distinct from a citation and fine
for a civil violation described in Subsection (A)(1)(a) of this section.
(a)
The amount of cost recovery under this subsection shall be calculated pursuant to the definition of "public safety services and/or response costs" in § 155-10 of this article.
(b)
In the event that the responsible person who is in violation
of this section is a juvenile, then the juvenile and the parents or
guardians of that juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for
the imposition of civil penalties for the cost of providing public
safety services.
(c)
Civil cost recovery fee(s) will not be imposed in those situations
where those present at the gathering call for emergency services for
an actual emergency at the premises.
The amount of a civil fine and/or civil cost recovery fee for public safety responses shall be deemed a debt owed to the City by a person found in violation of § 155-13 and therefor liable for a fine under § 155-13A(1)(a) and/or fees under § 155-13A(2) and, if that person is a juvenile, then also his/her parents or guardians. Any person owing such fine and/or fee shall be liable in an action brought in the name of the City for recovery of such fine and/or fees. These recovery costs may include reasonable attorney's fees incurred in the action if the City prevails.
The civil fines and fees imposed by this article do not preclude
other potential civil actions or criminal prosecution under any other
provision of law, including but not limited to the Pennsylvania Crimes
Code.
