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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