[HISTORY: Adopted by the Council of the City of Mount Vernon 10-10-1979 as Ch. 55
of the General Ordinances, approved 10-11-1979.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance provided that it would
take effect 1-1-1980. It also provided that copies of the ordinance
should be distributed to all social clubs within the City, but that
the validity of the ordinance would not depend on the receipt of such
copies.
The purpose of this chapter is the regulation and licensing
of social clubs to prevent the sale of alcoholic beverages on premises
not duly licensed by the State Liquor Authority; to ensure that the
occupants of such clubs are not exposed to fire and health hazards;
to protect business premises duly licensed to sell alcoholic beverages
from unfair competition by unlicensed clubs or organizations; to exert
some reasonable control and surveillance of social clubs to discourage
the clandestine sale and use of illicit drugs and other criminal activity,
all pursuant to Article 2-A of the General City Law of the State of
New York and Article III of the City of Mount Vernon Charter.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
A room, place or space used by members of a social club and
their guests for club purposes.
The consent of the applicant for a social club license permitting access, without prior notice, for the reasonable inspection of the clubroom by the Building Department and Health, Fire and Police Department personnel of the City of Mount Vernon or County of Westchester as delineated hereinafter such § 224-18, Periodic inspections.
A person or any association of people, whether incorporated
as a membership corporation or not-for-profit corporation or unincorporated,
which owns, occupies or leases premises for use by club members and
their guests exclusively, for recreational, patriotic, social, benevolent
or athletic purposes.
The permit issued by the City Clerk authorizing for a definite
license period of one year the use of a particular clubroom as the
meeting place for social club members and their guests.
Social clubs shall be located only in a B-1 Office District,
B-2 Neighborhood Business District, on the second or upper floor of
premises in a B-3 General Business District or on the second or upper
floor of premises in a B-4 Commercial District, and shall be at least
200 feet from any residential district. No social club shall be located
within 200 feet of a building occupied exclusively as a school, church,
synagogue or other place of worship, the measurement to be taken in
a straight line from the center of the nearest entrance of such school,
church, synagogue or other place of worship to the center of the nearest
entrance of the premises in question; nor within a circumference of
200 feet of any public housing project, to be measured from the property
line of the public housing project which is closest to the nearest
property line of the premises in question.
No social club shall operate between the hours of 4:00 a.m.
and 12:00 noon on Sunday nor from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. on all other
days.
[Amended 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
The applicant for a social club license, upon payment of a fee
of $250 to the City Clerk, shall furnish the following data on an
application form to be furnished by the City Clerk:
A.
Name of social club and clubroom address of the social club.
B.
Names and addresses of its officers.
C.
The purposes or goals of the social club.
D.
Copy of certificate of incorporation, if incorporated.
E.
Prior consent to reasonable inspections during license period.
F.
Name and address of landlord.
[Added 4-13-1989, approved 4-13-1989]
Every applicant for a license shall file, together with the
application, fingerprints of both hands. The fingerprints shall be
placed upon cards provided by the Commissioner of Public Safety and
shall be taken under his/her supervision by a senior police officer,
and at such a place as the Commissioner shall designate. The Commissioner
of Public Safety shall have the authority to submit the fingerprints
of the applicant, together with the required fees, to the Division
of Criminal Justice Services or other appropriate agency for processing
and investigation. No application for a social club shall be approved
nor any license issued under the provisions of this chapter until
after the commanding officer of the Bureau of Criminal Identification
in the Department of Public Safety has reviewed and examined the criminal
history record information disseminated by the Division of Criminal
Justice Services. No license shall be granted to any applicant who
has been convicted of any felony or any misdemeanor involving violence,
dishonesty or deceit.
Upon the acceptance of the application, the City Clerk shall
advise the Mount Vernon Fire and Building Departments and Westchester
County Department of Health to make a team inspection of the clubroom
of the applicant to ascertain and report whether such clubroom is
free of Fire, Building and Health Code violations. Such prior inspection
and report shall be made within two weeks of the filing of the application.
Within one week of the receipt by the applicant of the denial
in writing of the City Clerk, the applicant may elect to demand a
hearing. The demand shall be in writing, addressed to the City Clerk,
stating clearly the reason why the denial should be set aside. Within
one week of such challenge and demand for a hearing, the City Clerk
shall forward the hearing demand to the Social Club Appeal Board,
which Board shall schedule a hearing within two weeks of the receipt
of the notice from the City Clerk.
The Mayor shall appoint a Social Club Appeal Board upon the
enactment of this chapter. The Board shall consist of the Police Commissioner
and two laymen, one of whom possess experience of at least 10 years
in the building and construction field, who shall act as hearing officers.
The Board members shall select one of their members to act as Chairman.
Upon the scheduled hearing date, the testimony will be given first
by the department or departments citing the violation and thereafter
by the applicant. The burden of supporting the denial shall be upon
the City of Mount Vernon, which must sustain its denial by a preponderance
of the evidence. To sustain a denial, 2/3 of the Board must vote in
the affirmative to it. If there be no such affirmative vote to sustain
the denial, the denial shall be withdrawn, and forthwith the City
Clerk shall issue a social club license to the applicant, with leave
to the City to take any further permissible legal action to reestablish
the denial.
[Amended 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
In the event that the denial of the license is sustained by
the Social Club Appeal Board, the decision shall be forwarded to the
applicant in writing.
The license, if not denied, shall be issued to the applicant
within one week of the departmental inspections, for a period of one
year from the date of its issuance.
The social club license shall be conspicuously displayed and
be visible from the street side of a clubroom having a glass window
or door; otherwise, it shall be conspicuously displayed in the interior
of the premises within six feet of the entrance to the clubroom.
[Amended 4-10-1981, approved 4-13-1981]
Application for renewal of a license shall be submitted to the
City Clerk 30 days prior to the expiration thereof. The procedure
for renewal shall be identical to the procedure for the application
for the license as set forth in this chapter.
No license issued hereunder shall be revoked or suspended without notice in writing by the City department making the complaint to the applicant, stating clearly the facts upon which the suspension or revocation is being made. Upon receipt of the revocation or suspension notice, an aggrieved licensee shall, within one week of the receipt of the notice of revocation, state in writing its objection to the revocation or suspension and demand a hearing. Within one week of the receipt of the challenge or objection of the aggrieved licensee, the Social Club Appeal Board shall schedule a hearing as stated in § 224-8 of this chapter, and, in the sustaining of a denial, must affirm any revocation or suspension by an affirmative vote of 2/3 of its members.
A license hereunder shall be suspended or revoked if the clubroom
premises are used in violation of this chapter or if the social club
or its officers, members or employees are convicted of a crime while
on the club premises or in the use of the club premises under any
state or federal criminal law.
The following are exempt from the application of this chapter:
[Amended 4-12-2006, approved 4-13-2006]
Every licensee shall keep in force a liability insurance policy
to cover accidental injuries sustained therein by its members or guests.
The minimum limits shall be $1,000,000 for each occurrence and $2,000,000
for aggregate claims.
A.
Access to the clubroom shall be given to inspectors of the City Fire,
Building and Police Departments and the Health Department of the County
of Westchester for the periodic routine inspection of the social club
rooms.
B.
Such inspections shall not single out any particular club but must
routinely be made of at least three other clubs on the same day or
night. No single inspection shall last more than one hour's duration.
Routine inspections of three other clubs on the same day or night
are not required when inspections are made in response to specific
complaints.
[Added 3-12-1980, approved 3-13-1980]
Any person or association of people operating a social club as defined under this chapter without first securing a social club license shall be guilty of a violation of this chapter punishable by a fine of not more than $150 or to imprisonment not exceeding 150 days, or both, pursuant to § 1-4 of the Code of the City Mount Vernon.
