A.
No
licensee for the sale of liquor to be consumed on a licensed premises
shall permit, on a licensed premises, any entertainment unless the
licensee shall have first obtained a special amusement permit from
the municipal officers.
B.
Applications
for all special amusement permits shall be made in writing to the
municipal officers and shall state the name of the applicant; the
applicant's residence address; the name of the business to be conducted;
the business address; the nature of the applicant's business; the
location to be used; whether the applicant has ever had a license
to conduct the business therein described either denied or revoked
and, if so, the applicant shall describe those circumstances specifically;
whether the applicant, including all partners or corporate officers,
has ever been convicted of a felony and, if so, the applicant shall
describe specifically those circumstances; and any additional information
as may be needed by the municipal officers in the issuing of the permit,
including but not limited to a copy of the applicant's current liquor
license.
C.
Any
licensee requesting a special amusement permit from the municipal
officers shall be notified of their decision no later than 15 days
from the date the licensee's request was considered. In the event
that a licensee is denied a permit, the licensee shall be provided
with the reason for the denial, in writing. The licensee may reapply
for a permit after 30 days have lapsed since the original denial and
the applicant has shown that the causes for the original denial have
been removed, repaired or otherwise substantively addressed.
D.
No
permit shall be issued if the premises do not fully comply with all
ordinances, articles, bylaws, or rules and regulations of the Town
of Bethel.
E.
The
fee for a special amusement permit shall be as provided in the Town
of Bethel Fee Schedule.
F.
It
shall be the responsibility of the licensee to provide the municipal
officers sufficient information about the proposed premises at the
time of application to ensure compliance with this chapter, State
of Maine statutes regarding fire regulation, all other laws of the
State of Maine and ordinances of the Town of Bethel. An affidavit
agreeing to such compliance shall become part of said application.
G.
The
municipal officers shall, prior to granting a permit and after 10
days' notice to the Town of Bethel, the public and the applicant,
hold a public hearing at which the testimony of the applicant and
that of any interested members of the public shall be taken.
A.
Disorderly
conduct. The licensee shall not knowingly, intentionally or recklessly
allow in his licensed premises any person or persons to engage in
disorderly conduct, i.e., conduct which intentionally or recklessly
causes annoyance to others by making loud and unreasonable noises
or knowingly accosting, insulting, taunting, or challenging any person
with offensive, derisive or annoying words or by gestures or other
physical conduct which would in fact have a direct tendency to cause
a violent response by an ordinary person in the situation of the person
so accosted, insulted, taunted or challenged. The licensee shall not
knowingly, intentionally or recklessly allow on his premises conduct
which is in violation of the laws of the State of Maine.
B.
Creation
of hazards. The licensee shall not permit on his premises the gathering
of a crowd or audience or patrons to witness any entertainment, amusement
or show so as to create a condition dangerous to others.
C.
Solicitation
of drinks. The licensee shall not allow on any licensed premises any
person not a licensee or an employee who is then and there working
to frequent or loiter with the purpose of soliciting any other person,
customer, or patron to purchase any drink of any kind.
D.
Gambling.
The licensee shall not allow on any licensed premises the use or occupancy
thereof for gambling or games of chance as prohibited by the statutes
of the State of Maine or ordinances, articles, bylaws, or rules and
regulations of the municipality, nor shall any licensee have or keep
for gambling purposes on or about such licensed premises any dice,
cards, bowls, quoits, or other implements used in gambling, or allow
any person resorting thereto to use or exercise for gambling purposes
any of said games or any other unlawful game or sport therein.
E.
Obscenity.
The licensee, or any licensed premises, shall not:
(1)
Knowingly disseminate, distribute, or make available to the public
any obscene material;
(2)
Knowingly make available to the public any obscene performance;
(3)
Knowingly engage in commerce and/or for commercial gain with materials
depicting and describing explicit sexual conduct, nudity, or excretion
utilizing displays, circulars, advertisements, or any other public
sales efforts that promote such commerce primarily on the basis of
their prurient appeal;
(4)
Provide service to patrons in such a manner as to expose to public
view:
(a)
The licensee's or any of his agents' or employees' genitals, pubic
hair, buttocks, perineum, anal region or pubic hair region;
(b)
Any device, costume or covering which gives the appearance of or
simulates the genitals, pubic hair, buttocks, perineum, anal region
or pubic hair region; or
(c)
Any portion of the female breast at or below the areola thereof;
or
(5)
Knowingly promote the commission of any of the above-listed acts
of this section.
F.
AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC
DISSEMINATE
EXPOSE TO PUBLIC VIEW
KNOWINGLY
MATERIAL
OBSCENE
PERFORMANCE
SERVICE TO PATRONS
For
the purposes of this section and any other section of this chapter,
unless specified otherwise, the following terms are defined as follows:
The matter or performance or act may be purchased or attended
on a subscription basis, or membership fee arrangement, or for a separate
fee for each item or performance or act, or available merely by being
a patron of or present in an establishment that is licensed to sell
liquor.
To transfer possession of, with or without consideration.
That view, glimpse, sight, or reconnoiter by use of one's
ordinary visual means which is revealed, open to plain view, exposed,
discovered, distinguished, recognized, observed, demonstrated, exhibited,
perceived, discerned, displayed, or capable of any or all of such
from any vantage point where the public or any patron of any licensee
is allowed, authorized, invited, or normally and commonly frequents.
Being aware of the character and the content of the material.
Any book, magazine, newspaper, or other printed or written
material or any picture, drawing, photograph, motion picture or other
pictorial representation, or any statue or other figure, or any recording,
transcription or mechanical, chemical, or electrical reproduction
or any other articles, equipment, or machines.
To the average person applying contemporary community standards
the predominant appeal of the matter or act taken as a whole is to
prurient interest and the matter or act depicts or describes in a
patently offensive manner sexual conduct or lewd exhibition of the
genitals or other body parts mentioned in this chapter above and lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value, or any
matter or acts or performance which is prohibited by the statutes
of the State of Maine.
Any preview, play, show, skit, film, dance, or other exhibition,
or entertainment performed before an audience.
The provision of services to customers, patrons, or any other
persons present in establishments providing food and beverages, including
but not limited to hostessing, hatchecking, cooking, bartending, serving,
table setting and clearing, waiter and waitressing, and entertaining.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection G, Noise, and Subsection
H, Measurement procedures, which immediately followed, were repealed
6-13-2012.
A.
Whenever
inspections of the premises used for or in connection with the operation
of a licensed business which has obtained a special amusement permit
are provided for or required by ordinance, rules and regulations or
state law provision or to detect violations thereof, it shall be the
duty of the licensee, or the person in charge of the premises, to
be inspected, to admit thereto for the purpose of making the inspection
any law enforcement officer authorized to make such inspection at
any reasonable time that admission is requested.
B.
Whenever
an analysis of any commodity or material is reasonably necessary to
secure conformance with any ordinance, rule and regulation, or state
law provision, it shall be the duty of the licensee, or the person
in charge of the premises, to give to any law enforcement officer
so requesting sufficient samples of the material or commodity for
analysis.
C.
In
addition to any other penalty which may be provided, the municipal
officers may revoke, after hearing, the special amusement permit of
any licensee in the Town of Bethel who refuses to permit any such
officer to make such inspection, or take sufficient samples for analysis,
or who interferes with such officer while in the performance of his
duty, provided that no special amusement permit shall be revoked unless
written demand for the inspection or sample is made upon the licensee
or person in charge of the premises at the time it is sought to make
the inspection.
[Amended 6-12-2024 ATM
by Art. 12]
Any licensee who has requested a permit and has been denied,
or whose permit has been revoked or suspended, may, within 30 days
of the denial, suspension, or revocation, appeal the decision to the
Town of Bethel Board of Appeals. The Board of Appeals may grant or
reinstate the permit if it finds that the permitted activities would
not constitute a detriment to the public health, safety, or welfare,
or that the denial, revocation, or suspension was arbitrary or capricious,
or that the denial, revocation, or suspension was not based on a preponderance
of the evidence or on a violation of any ordinance, article, bylaw,
or rule or regulation of the Town of Bethel.
Entertainment of any sort which is regulated herein shall be
conducted upon the premises of the licensee only during the business
days and hours during which liquor may be sold and delivered by the
licensee as provided in 28-A M.R.S.A. § 4.
