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0131
IP6
MarianKarr
From EleanorMDilkes
Sen Tuesday January 11 201154M
To vckensng@egssaeiaobevorsky@egssaeiaookcom@egssaeiaavdacoby@egssae
iay
ascher@egssae
ialaumann@egssae
iaameshahn@legissaeias
Cc City Council Tom Markus Dale Helling MarianKarr Sam Hargadine
Subject Liquor Licensing Requirements Proposed Amendment to Chapter 123
Attachments RATIONALE FOR PROPOSED CHANGES TOCHAPTER123dGood Moral Character
deintion1dRATIONALE FOR Good Moral
tOPOSEDCHANGESharacterdeintio
To TheHonorableVicki Lensing TheHonorableRobert Dvorsky TheHonorable JoeBolkcomThe
HonorableDavid Jacoby TheHonorable Mary Mascher TheHonorable JeffKaufmannTheHonorableJim
Hahn
FomEleanorDilkes City Attorney City ofIowaCity
Inaccordancewith the legislative priorities of the IowaCity Council asdiscussed at its recentmeeting withour
state legislators attached youwill findaproposed change to the definitionofgood moral character inChapter
123 to includeauisance component that wouldprevent the licensing ofanestablishment that is apublic
nuisanceandoequiresadisproportionate dedicationofpolice resources
Inaddition to the proposed amendmentIave attachedastatement ofthe rationalebehind the amendment
Indrafting thisproposal Ihave consultedwithother city attorneys in the state and principallywiththe Dubuque
City Attorney Itis my understanding that Representative Chuck IsenhartoDubuque has asked the Legislative
ServiceBureau to draftabill using the proposed language forhis sponsorship
Please givemeacall ifyou haveany questionsorneedany additional information
Thankouor your interest inthismater
EleanorMilkes
City Attorney
City ofIowa City
410EWashington SIowaCity IA 52245
Emaileeanokes@owactyg
Phone 319356030
Fax 319356008
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RATIONALEFOR PROPOSEDCHANGESTOCHAPTER 123
The present licensing scheme limits the abilityocities to denyorrevoke licenses to
bars that createapublic nuisanceorrepeatedly allow criminal activity and drain law
enforcement resources
Barownersaeallowed to avoid license sanctions for illegal conduct and conduct
creating public nuisances by simply looking the otherway
Current law is interpreted as requiring criminal activityoractual knowledge of
criminal activity by thebarownerorbaremployees in order to impose sanctions
IowaCitywasunable to hold bars responsible for extremely large numberso
underage drinking violations ontheir premises
oIowaCity issued anaverageofmorethan 1400 underage drinking citations
each year during the years 2002through 2009
Dubuquewasunable to sustainaicense revocation forabarwhichhadmorethan
300 police calls inayear and clearlywasoperated in such amanneras to constitute
apublic nuisance
TheABD rejected both causesas insufficientcausefornonenewaunder thecurren
licensing scheme in IowaCode chapter 123
Cities should have theauthority to reject liquor license applications where blatant
repeated criminal conduct such as underage drinkingoccursonthe licensed
property
Neighborhoods should be able to rely ontheir city council to reject renewal
applications orrevoke licensesofestablishments that become seriouspublicnuisances
Legislative changes need to be made sothat cities cantake appropriate action when
such conductoccurs
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Proposed changes to IowaChapter 123 to redefineGoodMoral Character
12336
26Personofgood moral charactermeansany person who meets allothe
following requirementsahe personhas such financial standing and good reputation as will satisfy the
administrator that the personwllcomply with this chapter andall laws ordinances and
regulations applicable to the personsperationsunder thischapter However the
administrator shall norequire the person to post abondtomeethe requirements ofthis
paragraph
bTheperson isnoprohibited by section12340rom obtainingaliquor control
licenseorawineorbeer permit
cNotwithstanding paragraphethe applicant is acitizenofthe United States and
aesidentothis stateorlicensed to do business inthis state inthecaseoacorporation
Notwithstanding paragraphe in the caseofapartnership only onegeneral partner
need beaesident ofthissae
dThe personhasnobeenconvicted ofafelony However ifthe personsconvictionofafelony occurred
more
thanfive
years
beforethe dateotheapplication for
aicenseorpermit and ifheperson
sights ofcitizenship have been restored by the
governor the administrator may determine that the person is ofgood moral character
notwithstanding such conviction
e Thepersonis noand has nobeen anownerormanagerofaicensed or
permitted establishment that constitutesorconstituted apublic nuisance
The requirements ofthissubsection apply to the following
1achothe officers directors and partners ofsuch person
2personwho directlyorindirectly ownsorcontrols ten percentormore
oany classostockosuch person
3Apersonwho directlyorindirectly has aninterest oftenpercentormore
in the ownershiporprofitsosuch person
New subsection12336A
26A Public nuisancemeansany business the operationormaintenance of
which
a Jeopardizesorendanergs the public healthorsafety orthe health orsafety of
persons residingorworkingonhe premises orin the surroundine aeaor
b Hasratedly resulted inorfacilitatedany ofthe following activities
disturbancesothe peace illeaw ldugcivtyncludini sales orpossession thereofh
public drunkenness opencontainerviolations underage possession ofalcohol other
alcohol related offenses other criminal offenses harassmentopassersby ambn
prostitution sale ofstolen ogods public urination theft assaults batteriesacts of
vandalism excessive littering illegal parking orneed for policepatrolorresponse
substantiallygreater in number thanotherbusinesses inthe iurisdiction inwhich the
business is operated ormaintained