Billiard Hall.
Shall mean any building, room, or establishment of any nature or kind whatsoever and by whatever name called where a non-coin-operated billiard table or billiard tables are operated for profit whether the same be operated in connection with any other lawful business or not.
Public Domino Parlor.
As used herein, shall mean any place within the city where dominoes are kept to be played with the public; provided, any dominoes used in connection with any place of business where cigars, or other things of value are sold shall be regarded as within the meaning of such term.
Coin-Operated Machine.
Shall mean a machine or device operated by insertion of a coin, token, or similar object for the purpose of music, or skill or pleasure.
City Manager.
Shall mean the city manager of the City of DeSoto, or his designated agent.
Licensee.
Shall mean a person licensed to operate a billiard hall or public domino parlor.
Operator.
Shall mean a person who manages or controls a billiard hall or public domino parlor.
Person.
Shall mean an individual, assumed name entity, partnership, joint venture, association, or other legal entity.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1301; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
No person may operate a billiard hall or public domino parlor in the city without first obtaining a license from the city manager.
(Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
An applicant for a license shall file with the city manager a written application, on a form provided for that purpose, which shall be signed by the owner of the billiard hall or public domino parlor. Should an applicant maintain a billiard hall or public domino parlor at more than one (1) location, a separate application must be filed for each location. Each application shall contain:
(1) 
Name, address, telephone number, driver's license number, social security number, and date of birth of the applicant, including the trade name by which the applicant does business and the street name of the billiard hall or public domino parlor, and if incorporated, the name registered with the Secretary of State;
(2) 
Name, address, telephone number, driver's license number, social security number, and date of birth of the operator of the billiard hall or public domino parlor and proof that the operator is at least eighteen years of age;
(3) 
Whether the applicant, operator, and if applicable, any corporate officer of the applicant has been convicted of a felony or within the preceding five (5) years of an offense involving drugs, gambling, prostitution, obscenity or unlawfully carrying a weapon;
(4) 
The previous occupation of the applicant, operator, and if applicable, all corporate officers of the applicant within the preceding five (5) years;
(5) 
Whether a previous license of applicant, or if applicable, corporate officer of applicant has been revoked within two (2) years of filing of the application;
(6) 
Total number of billiard tables or domino tables in the center or hall;
(7) 
A statement that all the facts contained in the application are true.
(b) 
The city manager may require additional information of an applicant or licensee to clarify items on the application.
(c) 
No applicant may maintain a billiard hall or public domino parlor in violation of the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance of the City of DeSoto.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1304; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
No license shall be issued until the annual occupation tax has been paid on each billiard table or domino table as defined herein.
(b) 
All licenses issued under the provisions of this article shall terminate one (1) year from the date of such issuance, unless they are renewed as provided herein.
(c) 
Every owner who owns, controls, possesses, exhibits, displays, or who permits to be exhibited or displayed in this city, any billiard table or domino table shall pay, and there is hereby levied on each billiard table or domino table, as defined herein, except as are exempt herein, an annual occupational tax as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code.
(d) 
The fee for issuing a replacement license, for one lost, destroyed, or mutilated is as provided for in the fee schedule found in the appendix of this code. The fee is payable upon approval of the license by the city manager. No refund of occupational taxes shall be made.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1305; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
Each license issued pursuant to this article must be posted and kept in a conspicuous place in the billiard hall or public domino parlor and must state the number of billiard tables or domino tables for which the license was issued.
(b) 
A replacement license may be issued for one lost, destroyed, or mutilated, upon application on a form provided by the city manager. The replacement license shall have the word "replacement" stamped across its face and shall bear the same number as the one it replaces.
(c) 
A licensee shall notify the city manager of a change in the number of billiard tables or domino tables of the billiard hall or public domino parlor. Occupational taxes for additional billiard tables or domino tables must be paid prior to putting these devices in operation.
(d) 
A billiard hall or public domino parlor license is not assignable or transferable.
(e) 
A licensee shall notify the city manager within ten (10) days of a change or partial change in the ownership, partnership, or management of the billiard hall or public domino parlor, or a change of address or trade name.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1306; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
The city manager shall refuse to approve issuance or renewal of a billiard hall or public domino parlor license for one (1) or more of the following reasons:
(1) 
A false statement as to the information supplied in the application for license;
(2) 
Conviction of the applicant, his operator, or corporate officer of the applicant of a felony or within the preceding five (5) years of an offense involving drugs, gambling, prostitution, obscenity, or unlawfully carrying a weapon; or
(3) 
Revocation of a license, pursuant to this article, of the applicant or corporate officer of the applicant within two (2) years preceding the filing of the application.
(b) 
The city manager shall not issue or renew a license under this article, and shall suspend for any period of time, or cancel a license, if he finds that the applicant or licensee is indebted to the city for any fees, costs, penalties, or delinquent taxes.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1307; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
The city manager shall revoke a billiard hall or public domino parlor license for one (1) or more of the following reasons:
(1) 
A false statement as to the information supplied in the application for license, license renewal, or a hearing concerning the license;
(2) 
Conviction of the licensee, his operator, or corporate officer of the licensee of a felony of an offense involving drugs, gambling, prostitution, obscenity, or unlawfully carrying a weapon;
(3) 
Conviction twice within a one-year period of the licensee or his operator for a violation of the hours of operation provision of this article
(4) 
Employment by the licensee of an operator who is under seventeen (17) years of age;
(5) 
Operation of the billiard hall or public domino parlor containing more billiard tables or domino tables than the center or hall is licensed for; or
(6) 
Violation by the licensee, or his operator, of any of the provisions of this article.
(b) 
The city manager shall send written notice of revocation to the last known address of the licensee by certified mail, return receipt requested, setting forth the reasons for the revocation.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1308; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
If the city manager refuses to approve the issuance of a license or the renewal of a license to an applicant or revokes a license issued to a licensee under this article, this action is final unless the applicant or licensee, within ten (10) days after the receipt of written notice of the action, files with the city manager a written appeal. The city manager shall, within ten (10) days after the appeal is filed, consider all the evidence in support of or against the action appealed and render a decision either sustaining or reversing the action. If the city manager sustains the action, the applicant or licensee, may within ten (10) days of that decision file a written appeal with the city secretary to the city council setting forth specific grounds for the appeal. The city council shall, within thirty (30) days, grant a hearing to consider the action. The city council has authority to sustain, reverse, or modify the action appealed. The decision of the city council is final.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1309)
No licensee, or his operator, may operate the billiard hall or public domino parlor except between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. Monday through Thursday; between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. Friday and Saturday; and between the hours of 12:00 noon and 6:00 p.m. on Sunday.
(Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
A licensee, or his operator, may not permit any of the following activities within the billiard hall or public domino parlor:
(1) 
Violation of any possession, sale, or delivery provision of the Texas Controlled Substances Act;
(2) 
Violation of any city ordinances;
(3) 
Violation of any provision of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code;
(4) 
Prostitution;
(5) 
Gambling;
(6) 
Entry of a person younger than eighteen (18) years of age between the hours of 9.00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. during the fall or spring term when students are required to attend school in the school district in which the center is located.
(b) 
A licensee, or his operator, of any billiard hall or public domino parlor may not permit any activities on the premises otherwise prohibited by the ordinances of the City of DeSoto, statutes of the State of Texas or the United States.
(c) 
In subsection (c) of this section, "premises" means an area, other than the interior of the billiard hall or public domino parlor, to which the public or a substantial group of the public has access and which is under the control of an owner or operator of a billiard hall or public domino parlor, such as a parking facility or private sidewalk.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1311; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
Officers of the police department on official duty are authorized and empowered to enter during business hours, for the purposes of inspection and for the preservation of law and order, any billiard hall or public domino parlor within the city.
(Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
The fire marshal, in cooperation with the chief of police and code enforcement officer, will set and enforce maximum capacity or maximum occupancy standards for each billiard hall or public domino parlor. Maximum capacity or maximum occupancy will be set at licensing.
(Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
The interior of any billiard hall or public domino parlor must be well-lighted and all devices must be clearly visible from the building entrance, and there shall be a minimum of five feet (5') of clear open space surrounding each billiard table. The floor space under and surrounding the billiard tables must be carpeted with indoor-outdoor carpeting.
(b) 
No license shall be issued for the ownership or operation of devices on any premises where a hotel, rooming house, or lodging house is conducted in the same building, and there shall not be any devices on the premises.
(c) 
The interior of each center or hall must be kept clean and neat. The premises shall not have the appearance of being dirty or shabby and shall not be degrading to the surrounding neighborhood or let run down.
(1995 Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4, Article 4.1300, Section 4.1314; Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)
(a) 
This section does not apply to a stamp vending machine, service coin-operated machine such as a pay toilet or telephone that dispenses only a service, or a gas meter, food vending machine, confection vending machine, beverage vending machine, merchandise vending machine or cigarette vending machine which is subject to an occupation or gross receipts tax.
(b) 
The city hereby imposes an occupation tax on a coin-operated machine displayed for public use within the city at a rate not exceeding 1/4 of the rate of the tax imposed by the state under Section 2153.401 of the Occupations Code, which state tax is currently sixty dollars ($60.00) per machine per year. The chief of police is authorized to seal a coin-operated machine if the tax imposed by this subsection is not paid and to charge a fee of not more than five dollars ($5.00) for the release of a sealed coin-operated machine.
(c) 
For purposes of zoning, the exhibition of a music or skill or pleasure coin-operated machine as an accessory use shall be permitted where the principal use of the property is permitted by this comprehensive zoning ordinance.
(d) 
If the display of coin-operated machines is the principal use of the property, not an accessory use, such use shall he permitted if it is authorized on the property by the comprehensive zoning ordinance of the city.
(Ordinance 1394-01 adopted 1/16/01)