The title of this chapter shall be "Social Host Liability."
The purposes of this chapter are:
A. To protect public health, safety and general welfare;
B. To enforce laws prohibiting the service to and consumption of alcoholic
beverages and/or drugs by underage persons; and
[Amended 12-19-2018]
C. To reduce the costs of providing police, fire and other emergency
response services to loud or unruly gatherings, by imposing a civil
fee against social hosts and landowners (including landlords) for
the recovery of costs associated with providing law enforcement, fire
and other emergency response services to loud or unruly gatherings,
including those where alcoholic beverages and/or drugs are served
to or consumed by underage persons.
[Amended 12-19-2018]
For the purposes of this chapter, the following terms shall
have the following meanings:
ALCOHOL
Ethyl alcohol, hydrated oxide of ethyl or spirits of wine
from whatever source or by whatever process produced.
ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE
Includes alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every
liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, 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.
DRUGS
Any substance such as, including but not limited to, marijuana,
heroin, hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl, anabolic steroids and cocaine.
[Added 12-19-2018]
JUVENILE
Any person under 16 years of age.
LOUD OR UNRULY GATHERING
A.
A party or gathering of two or more persons at or on a residence
or other private property upon which loud or unruly conduct occurs.
Such loud or unruly conduct includes but is not limited to:
(3)
Obstruction of public streets or crowds that have spilled into
public streets;
(4)
Public drunkenness or unlawful public consumption of alcohol
or alcoholic beverages;
(5)
Service to or consumption of alcohol or alcoholic beverages
by any underage person, except as permitted by state law;
(6)
Harassments, assaults, fights, domestic violence or other disturbances
of the peace;
(9)
Any other conduct which constitutes a threat to public health,
safety, quiet enjoyment of residential property or general welfare.
B.
A loud or unruly gathering shall constitute a public nuisance.
RESIDENCE OR OTHER PRIVATE PROPERTY
A home, yard, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room,
or other dwelling unit, or a hall or meeting room, whether occupied
on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied as a dwelling,
party or other social function, and whether owned, leased, rented
or used with or without compensation.
RESPONSE COSTS
The cost associated with responses by law enforcement, fire
and other emergency response providers to loud or unruly gatherings,
including but not limited to:
A.
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 gatherings, and the administrative
costs attributable to such response(s);
B.
The cost of any medical treatment to or for any law enforcement,
fire or other emergency response personnel injured responding to,
remaining at or leaving the scene of a loud or unruly gathering;
C.
The cost of repairing any Town equipment or property damage,
and the cost of the use of any such equipment, in responding to, remaining
at or leaving the scene of a loud or unruly gathering.
RESPONSIBLE PARTY
Any person, agent, operator, firm, association, organization,
partnership, company, corporation, beneficiary, trust, trustee, and
all other persons having a legal or equitable interest in the residence
or other private property or recorded in the official records of the
state, county or municipality as holding title to the property or
otherwise having control of the property, including the guardian of
the estate of any such person and the executor or administrator of
the estate of such person, on whose property a loud or unruly gathering
is conducted.
RESPONSIBLE PERSON
A.
A person or persons with a right of possession in the residence
or other private property on which a loud or unruly gathering is conducted,
including, but not limited to:
(1)
An owner of the residence or other private property;
(2)
A tenant or lessee of the residence or other private property;
(3)
The landlord of another person responsible for the gathering;
and
(4)
The person(s) who organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts
or controls the gathering or any other person(s) accepting responsibility
for such a gathering.
B.
If a responsible person for the gathering is a juvenile, then
the parents or guardians of that juvenile and the juvenile will be
jointly and severally liable for the response costs incurred pursuant
to this chapter. To incur liability for response costs imposed by
this chapter, the responsible person for the loud or unruly gathering
need not be present at such gathering resulting in the response giving
rise to the imposition of response costs. This chapter therefore imposes
vicarious as well as direct liability upon a responsible person.
The Town of Elma is authorized, after due demand having been
made and proper notice having been given, to commence an action at
law in any court of competent jurisdiction to collect response costs
from the responsible person or party, including the owner and any
other person having an interest in the property concerned.