Municipal quotas for retail intoxicating liquor licenses. (FE)

For purposes of the quota system, a reserve "Class B" license is a "Class B" liquor license first issued on or after December 1, 1997. Current law provides a limited number of quota exceptions, including an exception for a full-service restaurant that has a seating capacity of 300 or more persons and an exception for a capital improvement area designated by the legislature.

This bill allows a municipality to transfer a reserve "Class B" liquor license to another municipality that is contiguous with, or within two miles of, the transferring municipality. The receiving municipality may then issue the license for a premises within that municipality. The quota of the transferring municipality is decreased, and the quota of the receiving municipality is increased, for each license transferred.

A municipality may transfer no more than three reserve "Class B" licenses in this manner. The transferring municipality establishes the issuance fee for the license after it is transferred, which may not be less than $10,000, and this fee must be remitted to the transferring municipality. This fee may not be rebated or refunded.

The bill also allows a municipality to designate a geographic area within the municipality as a premier economic development district, if certain requirements are met, and to issue two "Class B" liquor licenses in connection with an economic development project within the premier economic development district. These licenses are in addition to the "Class B" licenses counted toward the municipality's quota. The bill includes a definition of an economic development project. The municipality must establish an initial issuance fee for these "Class B" licenses, which may not be less than $30,000, and this fee may not be rebated or refunded.

Current law generally requires a municipality to establish an initial issuance fee for a reserve "Class B" license of at least $10,000. This bill specifies that this fee may not be rebated or refunded.

This bill also modifies the quota exception for a full-service restaurant that has a seating capacity of at least 300 persons to require an interior, permanent seating capacity of at least 300 persons.