No person other than a bona fide nonprofit corporation shall keep, maintain, operate, lease or otherwise furnish, either to its members and guests or to the general public, any premises for use as a bottle club without first having obtained a license and paying the fee therefor.
[Adopted 1-8-1991 (Ch. 101, Art. I, of the 1991 Code)]
Licenses shall be issued by the municipal officers after notice and hearing on the licensee's application.
A.
Unless otherwise defined herein or in the text, all words used will have their common meanings.
B. BOTTLE CLUB OFFICER PERSON
As used in the article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
An establishment where no alcoholic beverages are sold, but where members or guests provide their own alcoholic beverages, paying a fee or other consideration for admission to the bottle club and/or for setups.
Any officer, director, stockholder, owner, manager or person who either has a financial interest of any nature in a bottle club or directs any policy of a bottle club.
Any individual, person, firm, corporation, association, partnership or organization.
Every applicant for a bottle club shall:
A.
Complete and file an application on a form prescribed by the Town Clerk.
B.
Deposit the prescribed license fee in advance with the Town Clerk.
C.
Submit the completed application to the Town Clerk, together with attested copies of the Articles of Incorporation and bylaws if the applicant is a corporation or articles of association and bylaws if the applicant is an association, as well as a list of all officers of the bottle club.
D.
File an affidavit which will identify all officers and their places of residency at the present time and for the immediately preceding three years. Submission of false information in an application for a license shall be a violation of this article, and such act shall be grounds for the denial of the application.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
All officers of a bottle club shall meet the following qualifications: never have been convicted of a Class A, B or C crime nor of violating any of the gambling or prohibitive liquor laws either of the United States or of the State of Maine or any other state within five years immediately preceding the date of the application. Each such officer shall authorize the dissemination of confidential criminal history record information as provided in 16 M.R.S.A. § 705 (Criminal History Record Information Act) with the application.
Every applicant for a bottle club license shall include in the application a description of the premises for which a license is desired.
Applicants for bottle club licenses shall possess written Articles of Incorporation or association and bylaws. The articles or bylaws shall provide for regular election of officers or directors. Membership shall be regulated by articles or bylaws.
Upon receipt of a completed application and license fee, the Town Clerk shall request other Town officials to submit written reports to the municipal officers, indicating whether the applicant is in compliance with all the applicable codes and ordinances of the Town, including the requirements imposed by this article.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
After receipt of the written reports required by § 87-18, the Town Clerk shall cause notice of a public hearing on the application to be given to abutters of the premises. Notice of the hearing shall also be published in a newspaper having general circulation in the Town. The notices required by this section shall be given in accordance with 28-A M.R.S.A. § 161-B.
A separate license must be obtained for each branch or separate establishment of a bottle club. Every bottle club shall exhibit its license at all times in a conspicuous place on its premises.
No new bottle club license shall be granted under this article to premises situated within 300 feet of a public or private school, school dormitory, church chapel or parish house in existence as such at the time such new license is applied for, except such premises as were in use as bottle clubs on the effective date of this article. The 300-foot distance shall be measured from the main entrance of the school, school dormitory, church, chapel or parish house by the ordinary course of travel.
No person under the age of 21 years shall be permitted in or to remain within a bottle club.
The premises used as a bottle club shall be closed and vacated by members and guests each day from 1:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m., except that on January 1 the premises may remain open until 2:00 a.m. During the hours that a bottle club must remain closed, no members, guests, or other persons, other than regular employees, may be on or remain therein, and the use by anyone of the premises or facilities of the bottle club for the drinking of alcoholic beverages during such hours when a bottle club must remain closed is prohibited.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
The applicant or licensee, his agents and employees shall allow access by the Code Enforcement Officer, Fire-Rescue Chief or any law enforcement officer for the purposes of inspecting the premises and ensuring that no violation of this article or any law is taking place.
A license to operate a bottle club may be denied, suspended or revoked by the municipal officers after notice and hearing for either violation of or failure to comply with any of the provisions of this article.
[Amended at time of adoption of Code (see Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. I)]
An appeal from any final decision of the municipal officers shall be taken by any party to the Bureau of Alcoholic Beverages and Lottery Operations in accordance with the provisions of 28-A M.R.S.A. § 161-B.
In addition to any action which the municipal officers may take, violation of any provision of this article shall be a civil violation, and a fine not exceeding $500 may be imposed. Each day that a violation continues will be treated as a separate offense.