Establishes local notification requirements for premises for on premises consumption; repealer

The bill would also abolish a distinction in the fee paid by licensees for corporate change applications.

Summary of provisions

Section 1 of the bill would renumber (as section 110-b) and amend section 17-a of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law. The amendments to this subdivision would: a) Consolidate the municipal notification requirements that are now found in various sections of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law; b) Limit to locations in the City of New York, the municipal notification requirements pertaining to licensees seeking to renew on-premises retail licenses, or make alterations to such licensed premises; c) Expand on the information that is required to be included in the notice for application sent to the municipality; d) Add certain on-premises license classes that were inadvertently excluded, to those license class subject to the municipal notification requirement; e) require on-premises licensees in the City of New York to provide community board notification prior to filing an application seeking approval of a "substantial corporate change," which is defined as the transfer or accumulation of ownership interest of 80% or more.

Section 2 of the bill would repeal the municipal notification requirement now found in section 55 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Section 3 of the bill would repeal the municipal notification requirement now found in section 64 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Section 4 of the bill would repeal the municipal notification requirement now found in section 64-c of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Section 5 of the bill would repeal the municipal notification requirement now found in section 64-d of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Section 6 of the bill would repeal the municipal notification requirement now found in section 81 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Section 7 of the bill would amend subdivision 2 of section 99-d of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law to eliminate a difference in the filing fee for a corporate change application based on the license fee and also clarify that, notwithstanding a corporate change, the licensed corporation is still bound by the representations made in the original application.

Section 8 of the bill would repeal the municipal notification requirement now found in section 109 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law.

Section 9 of the bill would renumber subdivision 1-a of section 109 of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law as subdivision 2 in response to the repeal to the current subdivision 2, as provided in section 7 of this bill.

Section 10 of this bill would make the amendments effective immediately.

Existing law

Current provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law require applicants for most on-premises licenses to notify the municipality where the premises are located of the applicant's intent to file an application with the Authority. Persons holding such on-premises licenses are required to provide similar notice prior to filing an application to renew the license or make alterations to the license premises.

Corporations holding such licenses may obtain approval to make changes to their corporate structure without notifying the municipality. These changes sometimes consist of an entire turnover of officers, directors and/or shareholders.

Justification

The changes proposed in this bill will accomplish five goals. First, the bill would eliminate a burden on licensees located outside the City of New York. The amendments would eliminate paperwork and the thirty-day waiting period now required before renewal applications or alteration applications can be submitted to the Authority. (Notice requirements pertaining to initial license applications would be unaffected.) Since municipalities other than the City of New York rarely submit objections to renewals, the notification requirements serve little, if any purpose for them.

Second, the bill would eliminate a burden on municipalities. Under current law, renewal and alteration applications cannot be filed with

the Authority unless the municipality has been notified thirty days in advance. Many applicants seek to have the municipality waive the time period. As a result, municipalities that would otherwise not object, or take no position with respect to an application, are asked nonetheless to allocate resources to respond to such waiver requests.

Third, this bill would correct drafting errors that have omitted certain on-premises license classes from the notification requirement. Given the various provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Law, it appears that these omissions were inadvertent and the Authority has been requiring those license classes to comply with the notification requirement.

Fourth, this bill would prevent previously unlicensed parties from obtaining a license in the City of New York, without any notification to community boards, by making changes to the existing corporate structure.

Fifth, this bill would remove any doubt that a licensed corporation, regardless of any change in ownership, is bound by the representations made by the corporation when it applied for its license. New ownership cannot use the approval of a corporate change as a means to modified conditions placed on the operation of a licensed premises.

Legislative history

This is a new bill.

Fiscal implications

None. However, decreased paperwork submitted by applicants will decrease the resources required by the Authority to process applications

Effective date

This act shall take effect immediately.