Laws, Acts, and Legislation

To amend section 4303.29 and to enact section 4301.82 of the Revised Code to establish local entertainment districts in municipal corporations or unincorporated areas of counties of specified populations for the purpose of the issuance of D-1, D-2, and D-5 liquor permits under specified conditions.

(1) "Local entertainment district" means a bounded area that includes or will include a combination of entertainment, retail, educational, sporting, social, cultural, or arts establishments within close proximity to some or all of the following types of establishments within the district, or other types of establishments similar to these:

(B) Any owner of property located in a municipal corporation seeking to have that property, or that property and other surrounding property, designated as a local entertainment district shall file an application seeking this designation with the mayor of the municipal corporation in which that property is located. Any owner of property located in the unincorporated area of a county seeking to have that property, or that property and other surrounding property, designated as a local entertainment district shall file an application seeking this designation with the board of county commissioners of the county in whose unincorporated area that property is located. An application to designate an area as a local entertainment district shall contain all of the following:

(3) A general statement of the nature and types of establishments described in division (A) of this section that are or will be located within the proposed local entertainment district and any other establishments located in the proposed local entertainment district that are not described in division (A) of this section;

(C) An application relating to an area located in a municipal corporation shall be addressed and submitted to the mayor of the municipal corporation in which the area described in the application is located. The mayor, within thirty days after receiving the application, shall submit the application with the mayor's recommendation to the legislative authority of the municipal corporation. An application relating to an area located in the unincorporated area of a county shall be addressed and submitted to the board of county commissioners of the county in whose unincorporated area the area described in the application is located. The application is a public record for purposes of section 149.43 of the Revised Code upon its receipt by the mayor or board of county commissioners.

Within thirty days after it receives the application and the mayor's recommendations relating to the application, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation, by notice published once a week for two consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the municipal corporation, shall notify the public that the application is on file in the office of the clerk of the municipal corporation and is available for inspection by the public during regular business hours. Within thirty days after it receives the application, the board of county commissioners, by notice published once a week for two consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the county, shall notify the public that the application is on file in the office of the county auditor and is available for inspection by the public during regular business hours. The notice shall also indicate the date and time of any public hearing by the municipal legislative authority or board of county commissioners on the application.

Within seventy-five days after the date the application is filed with the mayor of a municipal corporation, the legislative authority of the municipal corporation by ordinance or resolution shall approve or disapprove the application based on whether the proposed local entertainment district does or will substantially contribute to entertainment, retail, educational, sporting, social, cultural, or arts opportunities for the community. The community considered shall at a minimum include the municipal corporation in which the community is located. Any approval of an application shall be by an affirmative majority vote of the legislative authority. Not more than one local entertainment district shall be designated within the municipal corporation.

Within seventy-five days after the date the application is filed with a board of county commissioners, the board by resolution shall approve or disapprove the application based on whether the proposed local entertainment district does or will substantially contribute to entertainment, retail, educational, sporting, social, cultural, or arts opportunities for the community. The community considered shall at a minimum include at least a portion of the county in which the community is located. Any approval of an application shall be by an affirmative majority vote of the board of county commissioners. Not more than one local entertainment district shall be designated within the unincorporated area of the county.

If the municipal legislative authority or board of county commissioners disapproves the application, the applicant may make changes in the application to secure its approval by the legislative authority or board of county commissioners. Any area approved by the legislative authority or board of county commissioners constitutes a local entertainment district.

(D) All or part of an area designated as a local entertainment district may lose this designation as provided in this division. The legislative authority of a municipal corporation in which a local entertainment district is located, or the board of county commissioners of the county in whose unincorporated area a local entertainment district is located, after giving notice of its proposed action by publication once a week for two consecutive weeks in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the municipal corporation or county, may determine by ordinance or resolution in the case of the legislative authority of a municipal corporation, or by resolution in the case of a board of county commissioners of a county, that all or part of the area fails to meet the standards described in this section for designation of an area as a local entertainment district. If the legislative authority or board so determines, the area designated in the ordinance or resolution no longer constitutes a local entertainment district.

Sec. 4303.29. (A) No permit, other than an H permit, shall be issued to a firm or partnership unless all the members of the firm or partnership are citizens of the United States. No permit, other than an H permit, shall be issued to an individual who is not a citizen of the United States. No permit, other than an E or H permit, shall be issued to any corporation organized under the laws of any country, territory, or state other than this state until it has furnished the division of liquor control with evidence that it has complied with the laws of this state relating to the transaction of business in this state.

The division may refuse to issue any permit to or refuse to renew any permit of any person convicted of any felony that is reasonably related to the person's fitness to operate a liquor permit business in this state. No holder of a permit shall sell, assign, transfer, or pledge the permit without the written consent of the division.

(B)(1) No D-3 permit shall be issued to any club unless the club has been continuously engaged in the activity specified in section 4303.15 of the Revised Code, as a qualification for that class of permit, for two years at the time the permit is issued.

(2)(a) Subject to division (B)(2)(b) of this section, upon application by properly qualified persons, one C-1 and C-2 permit shall be issued for each one thousand population or part of that population, and one D-1 and D-2 permit shall be issued for each two thousand population or part of that population, in each municipal corporation and in the unincorporated area of each township.

Subject to division (B)(2)(b) of this section, not more than one D-3, D-4, or D-5 permit shall be issued for each two thousand population or part of that population in any municipal corporation and in the unincorporated area of any township, except that, in any city of a population of fifty-five thousand or more, one D-3 permit may be issued for each fifteen hundred population or part of that population.

(b)(i) Division (B)(2)(a) of this section does not prohibit the transfer of location or the transfer of ownership and location of a C-1, C-2, D-1, D-2, D-3, or D-5 permit from a municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of a township to an economic development project located in another municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of another township in which no additional permits of that class may be issued to the applicant under division (B)(2)(a) of this section. However, the transfer may occur only if the applicant notifies the municipal corporation or township to which the location of the permit will be transferred regarding the transfer and the municipal corporation or township acknowledges in writing to the division of liquor control that the transfer will be to an economic development project. The municipal corporation or township shall submit the acknowledgment at the time the application for the transfer is filed with the division.

The acknowledgment by the municipal corporation or township does not prohibit it from requesting a hearing under section 4303.26 of the Revised Code. The applicant is eligible to apply for and receive the transfer of location of the permit under division (B)(2)(b) of this section if permits of that class that may be issued under division (B)(2)(a) of this section in the applicable municipal corporation or unincorporated area of the township have already been issued or if the number of applications filed for permits of that class in that municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of that township exceed the number of permits of that class that may be issued there under division (B)(2)(a) of this section.

A permit transferred under division (B)(2)(b) of this section may be subsequently transferred to a different owner at the same location, or to the same owner or a different owner at a different location in the same municipal corporation or in the unincorporated area of the same township, as long as the same or new location meets the economic development project criteria set forth in this section.

(ii) Factors that shall be used to determine the designation of an economic development project include, but are not limited to, architectural certification of the plans and the cost of the project, the number of jobs that will be created by the project, projected earnings of the project, projected tax revenues for the political subdivisions in which the project will be located, and the amount of financial investment in the project. The superintendent of liquor control shall determine whether the existing or proposed business that is seeking a permit described in division (B)(2)(b) of this section qualifies as an economic development project and, if the superintendent determines that it so qualifies, shall designate the business as an economic development project.

(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of a permit to a municipal corporation for use at a municipally owned airport at which commercial airline companies operate regularly scheduled flights on which space is available to the public. A municipal corporation applying for a permit for such a municipally owned airport is exempt, in regard to that application, from the population restrictions contained in this section and from population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission. A municipal corporation applying for a D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, or D-5 permit for such a municipally owned airport is subject to section 4303.31 of the Revised Code.

(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the issuance of a D permit to the board of trustees of a soldiers' memorial for a premises located at a soldiers' memorial established pursuant to Chapter 345. of the Revised Code. An application for a D permit by the board for those premises is exempt from the population restrictions contained in this section and from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission. The location of a D permit issued to the board for those premises shall not be transferred. A board of trustees of a soldiers' memorial applying for a D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, or D-5 permit for the soldiers' memorial is subject to section 4303.31 of the Revised Code.

(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of a permit for a premises located at a golf course owned by a municipal corporation, township, or county, owned by a park district created under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, or owned by the state. The location of such a permit issued on or after September 26, 1984, for a premises located at such a golf course shall not be transferred. Any application for such a permit is exempt from the population quota restrictions contained in this section and from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission. A municipal corporation, township, county, park district, or state agency applying for a D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, or D-5 permit for such a golf course is subject to section 4303.31 of the Revised Code.

(6) As used in division (B)(6) of this section, "fair" has the same meaning as in section 991.01 of the Revised Code; "state fairgrounds" means the property that is held by the state for the purpose of conducting fairs, expositions, and exhibits and that is maintained and managed by the Ohio expositions commission under section 991.03 of the Revised Code; "capitol square" has the same meaning as in section 105.41 of the Revised Code; and "Ohio judicial center" means the site of the Ohio supreme court and its grounds.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of one or more D permits to one or more applicants for all or a part of the state fairgrounds, capitol square, or the Ohio judicial center. An application for a D permit for the state fairgrounds, capitol square, or the Ohio judicial center is exempt from the population quota restrictions contained in this section and from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission. The location of a D permit issued for the state fairgrounds, capitol square, or the Ohio judicial center shall not be transferred. An applicant for a D-1, D-2, D-3, or D-5 permit for the state fairgrounds is not subject to section 4303.31 of the Revised Code.

Pursuant to section 1711.09 of the Revised Code, the holder of a D permit issued for the state fairgrounds shall not deal in spirituous liquor at the state fairgrounds during, or for one week before or for three days after, any fair held at the state fairgrounds.

(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the issuance of a D permit for a premises located at a zoological park at which sales have been approved in an election held under former section 4301.356 of the Revised Code. An application for a D permit for such a premises is exempt from the population restrictions contained in this section, from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission, and from section 4303.31 of the Revised Code. The location of a D permit issued for a premises at such a zoological park shall not be transferred, and no quota or other restrictions shall be placed on the number of D permits that may be issued for a premises at such a zoological park.

(c) The premises for which a permit is proposed to be issued has gross annual receipts from the sale of food and meals for consumption on the premises that constitute not less than seventy-five per cent of its total gross annual receipts.

An application for a D-1, D-2, or D-5 permit for a premises located in a local entertainment district is exempt from the population restrictions established in this section, from the population quota restrictions established in any rule of the liquor control commission, and from section 4303.31 of the Revised Code. Such a D-1, D-2, or D-5 permit shall not be transferred out of the local entertainment district. Not more than one D-1, D-2, or D-5 permit shall be issued within a local entertainment district for each five acres of land located within the district. Not more than ten D-1, D-2, or D-5 permits, or any combination of those permits, may be issued within a single local entertainment district.

(C)(1) No D-3, D-4, D-5, or D-5a permit shall be issued in any election precinct in any municipal corporation or in any election precinct in the unincorporated area of any township, in which at the November, 1933, election a majority of the electors voting thereon in the municipal corporation or in the unincorporated area of the township voted against the repeal of Section 9 of Article XV, Ohio Constitution, unless the sale of spirituous liquor by the glass is authorized by a majority vote of the electors voting on the question in the precinct at an election held pursuant to this section or by a majority vote of the electors of the precinct voting on question (C) at a special local option election held in the precinct pursuant to section 4301.35 of the Revised Code. Upon the request of an elector, the board of elections of the county that encompasses the precinct shall furnish the elector with a copy of the instructions prepared by the secretary of state under division (P) of section 3501.05 of the Revised Code and, within fifteen days after the request, a certificate of the number of signatures required for a valid petition under this section.

Upon the petition of thirty-five per cent of the total number of voters voting in any such precinct for the office of governor at the preceding general election, filed with the board of elections of the county in which such precinct is located not later than ninety days before a general election, the board shall prepare ballots and hold an election at such general election upon the question of allowing spirituous liquor to be sold by the glass in such precinct. The ballots shall be approved in form by the secretary of state. The results of the election shall be certified by the board to the secretary of state, who shall certify the results to the division.

(2) No holder of a class D-3 permit issued for a boat or vessel shall sell spirituous liquor in any precinct, in which the election provided for in this section may be held, unless the sale of spirituous liquor by the drink has been authorized by vote of the electors as provided in this section or in section 4301.35 of the Revised Code.

(D) Any holder of a C or D permit whose permit premises were purchased in 1986 or 1987 by the state or any state agency for highway purposes shall be issued the same permit at another location notwithstanding any quota restrictions contained in this chapter or in any rule of the liquor control commission.