As to liquor law, clarifies what items shall be included in the investigator's report and to whom a copy of that report shall be furnished; clarifies procedures for protests concerning applications for liquor licenses; clarifies denials in areas near schools and playgrounds. (SD1)

A BILL FOR AN ACT

SECTION 1. The purpose of this Act is to clarify the liquor laws of the State for the benefit of applicants and other participants in a proceeding before the county liquor commissions. The legislature finds that government proceedings work best when all parties understand what the procedures and requirements are. The clarifications made by this Act will provide for more certainty on the liquor license application process and will reduce delays and costs associated with the processing of liquor license applications.

SECTION 2. Section 281-1, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending the definition of "premises" or "licensed premises" to read:

""Premises" or "licensed premises" means the [premises in respect of] building that houses the establishment for which a license has been or is proposed to be issued."

SECTION 3. Section 281-39.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (a) to read as follows:

"(a) The liquor commission or agency of each county may deny or restrict the issuance of a liquor license for on-site sale and consumption by the drink to any applicant whose establishment is or would be located within five hundred feet of a public or private elementary, intermediate, or high school, or public playground utilized extensively by minors, as determined by the liquor commission of each county[.]; provided that the liquor commission or agency of each county shall deny the issuance of a liquor license if forty per cent of the:

SECTION 4. Section 281-56, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§281-56 Report by investigator. (a) On every application referred to the [[]investigator[]] under section 281-55 the investigator shall report in writing to the liquor commission and, if the application is for a license of any class other than class 7, class 8, or class 9, such report shall show:

(b) A copy of the report shall be furnished to the applicant not less than forty-eight hours before any hearing is had upon the application. Upon written request, a copy of the report shall be furnished to any registered voter residing within a distance of five hundred feet from the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; or to any owner or lessee of record of real estate or to any owner of record of shares in a cooperative apartment situated within a distance of five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked.

(c) The applicant and any protester may challenge findings contained in the investigator's report before or at any hearing on the application.

SECTION 5. Section 281-57, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended as follows:

1. By amending subsection (a) to read:

"(a) Upon the filing of the investigator's report upon any application the liquor commission may hold a preliminary hearing and upon such preliminary hearing it may deny the application. A notice of preliminary hearing on a previously denied, refused, or withdrawn application shall be given seven days before the preliminary hearing to any person who submitted a written request for notice."

2. By amending subsection (c) to read:

"(c) Immediately upon the commission's fixing a day for the public hearing of the application, the applicant shall mail a notice setting forth the time and place of the hearing on the application to each of the following:

The notices required under this subsection shall be mailed at least forty-five days prior to the date set for the hearing. Before the hearing, and within seven days of having mailed the notices, the applicant shall file with the commission an affidavit that the notices have been mailed in compliance with this subsection. In addition to the affidavit (which shall be made available within the same seven-day period with proof of having mailed the notices) the applicant shall include both a master list of one hundred per cent of addressees and addresses required by paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) and another mailing list consisting of the portion of addressees and their respective addresses who were mailed the notice purposely needed to meet the requirements of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3). The affidavit, master list, and mailing list shall be made available within seven days (of the mailing of the notice by the applicant) by the commission for public review upon request. For purposes of this section "master list" means every owner and lessee who would otherwise be required to receive notice of the public hearing according to the requirement of paragraphs (1), (2), and (3), even if they were not actually included in the two-third or three-fourths requirement (as the case may be) of paragraph (1) or (2), and every condominium project and cooperative apartment qualifying in paragraph (3). The commission shall cancel the hearing if not receiving the affidavit prior to the hearing or if discovering that the affidavit is false."

SECTION 6. Section 281-59, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§281-59 Hearing[.]; rehearing. (a) Upon the day of hearing, or any adjournment thereof, the liquor commission shall consider the application and any protests and objections to the granting thereof, and hear the parties in interest, and shall within fifteen days thereafter or in its discretion extend the fifteen days to thirty days, with public notice of same, give its decision granting or refusing the application; provided that if a majority of the [registered]:

have duly filed or caused to be filed their protests against the granting of the license, or if there appears any other disqualification under this chapter, the application shall be refused. Otherwise, the commission may in its discretion grant or refuse the same.

For purposes of defining "a majority of owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment", each property counts only once, and a protest by one co-owner or one co-lessee of a property shall constitute a protest by all the owners or lessees of record of that property.

(b) The liquor commission shall make available to the applicant and any protester for review before the public hearing, the protest list of those persons who filed a protest or objection to the application; provided that the applicant shall not use the protest list to attempt to influence in any way any protester to withdraw the protest or objection. All applicants and protesters may submit corrections, additions, and subtractions to the master list and the protest list at the public hearing. The liquor commission shall rule on proposed corrections, additions, and subtractions and give reasons for such ruling.

(c) The commission may also, with like discretion[, grant]:

provided that in any case where any person affected by such decision petitions the commission for a rehearing of the application and on oath alleges facts and grounds for consideration which were not formerly presented or considered, or any other matter of fact which in the judgment of the commission seems sufficient to warrant a rehearing, such rehearing may be granted by the commission in its discretion[.] upon the publication of notice of rehearing at least seven days before the date of the rehearing. When a rehearing is allowed notice shall be given to the applicant and to the applicant's opponents, by publication or otherwise as the commission shall direct."

SECTION 7. Section 281-60, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to read as follows:

"(b) If an application pertaining to a particular premises or building location is denied, refused, or withdrawn, the next application from any applicant for that premises or building location shall include a report prepared by the applicant evidencing a substantial change in the circumstances that caused the previous denial, refusal, or withdrawal[; provided that this section shall not apply to withdrawals which are not based on protests whether or not the protests are filed]. The commission shall deny the application at the preliminary hearing unless the applicant submits evidence of a substantial change in the circumstances that previously caused the denial, refusal, or withdrawal of an application pertaining to that premises or building location. The commission may consider the following factors in deciding whether to grant an application pertaining to a premises or building location for which an application has previously been denied, refused, or withdrawn:

SECTION 8. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 9. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.