Report Title:

Liquor licenses; Schools

Description:

Limits the time period in which liquor may be sold by liquor establishments that are located within 500 feet of a public or private school.

THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2753

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2004

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to liquor licenseS.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that existing law establishes a five hundred-foot minimum distance between establishments that sell or allow the consumption of liquor and public and private schools. The legislature further finds that the sale of alcohol in close proximity to schools and other areas that are frequented by youth and children does not contribute to a safe school environment and undermines efforts to discourage and prevent underage drinking.

Establishing a limit on the sale of liquor by establishments that are in close proximity to schools would contribute to the safety and well-being of students and other minors in the State.

The purpose of this Act is to limit the time period in which liquor may be sold by liquor establishments that are located within five hundred feet of a public or private school.

SECTION 2. Section 281-39.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§281-39.5 Liquor license prohibited; where. (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[;]. For any liquor license issued for on-site sale and consumption by the drink for an establishment within five hundred feet of a public or private school, the license shall be restricted to limit the sale to the hours after 6:00 p.m. during weekdays; provided that in the application of the liquor license, the liquor commission or agency of each county shall deny the issuance of a liquor license if forty per cent of the:

(1) Registered voters for the area within five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked; or

(2) Owners and lessees of record of real estate and owners of record of shares in a cooperative apartment within five hundred feet of the nearest point of the premises for which the license is asked;

have duly filed or caused to be filed their protests against granting the license. The distance of five hundred feet shall be measured from the boundary of the school or public playground to the boundary of the applicant's premises. Public or private beaches[, and public or private day care centers] located in or adjacent to commercial areas shall not be deemed [schools or] public playgrounds for purposes of this section. The provisions of this section shall not apply to establishments located within areas designated by the appropriate counties for resort purposes, or to hotel liquor license applicants.

(b) This section shall apply only to the issuance of new liquor licenses for on-site sale and consumption by the drink and not to any renewal of such licenses[.]; provided that any transfer of a liquor license for on-site sale and consumption by the drink in an establishment within five hundred feet of a public or private school or public playground shall be subject to the hours of sale restriction after the transfer."

SECTION 3. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 4. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:

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