Sec. 3-40. – Licensed premises, hours of operation.
(a)
No person holding an alcoholic beverage permit and no servant, agent or employee of the permittee shall sell or offer for sale at retail, or to give away, in or upon any licensed premises, any alcoholic beverage between the hours of 12:05 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on any Monday; nor between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. of any Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday; nor between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. of any Friday or Saturday; nor between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. on any Sunday.
(b)
It shall be unlawful to keep open for business or to admit the public to or permit the public to remain within, or to permit the consumption of alcoholic beverages in or upon any premises in which alcoholic beverages are sold at retail during the hours within which the sale of such beverages is prohibited; provided that in case of restaurants, hotels and other retail businesses where the sale of alcoholic beverages is not the primary source of revenue (less than 40 percent of income), such establishments may be kept open for business during such hours, but no alcoholic beverages may be sold to, or consumed by, the public during such hours.
(Code 1975, § 14-17; Ord. No. 2092, 10-14-1997)
Cross reference— Operating hours of alcoholic beverage establishments during the crawfish festival, § 4-59.
Sec. 3-41. – Public nuisance cause for suspension, revocation, or nonrenewal of permit.
(a)
In addition to any other causes enumerated in this article, the board of aldermen, on the recommendation of the mayor, the city prosecutor or the chief of police, may suspend, revoke, or refuse to renew an alcoholic beverage permit on the grounds that a business establishment selling alcoholic beverages is a public nuisance.
(b)
“Public nuisance” is defined as follows:
(1)
Any business establishment where there occurs three felony crimes in one year.
(2)
Any business establishment where there occurs three drug arrests in one year.
(3)
Any business establishment which is the subject of six disturbance complaints to the police department in one year.
(4)
Any business establishment where, on its premises during its usual hours of operation, there are six instances of loitering, as defined by the criminal code of the city.
(5)
Any business establishment, which sells alcoholic beverages after midnight on Friday, Saturday or Sunday, whether or not such alcoholic beverages are sold for consumption on the business premises, which fails to provide qualified security personnel. “Qualified security personnel” shall be any person duly commissioned by a public law enforcement agency within the state.
(c)
The city, upon receiving a recommendation that a business establishment is a public nuisance, shall provide written notice of such recommendation, at least seven days prior to the proposed hearing, which hearing shall be held at a public meeting of the board of aldermen. Such notice may be made by certified mail, or personal service as in civil suits, and shall include the purpose of the hearing, the date and time of the scheduled hearing, the nature of the violation and the possible penalties.
(d)
After the hearing, and upon finding that grounds exist to declare a business establishment a public nuisance, the board of aldermen may suspend, revoke or refuse to renew the subject alcoholic beverage permit. In the alternative, the board of aldermen may set a fine of not less than $250.00 nor more than $500.00. In any event, the penalty shall be mandatory, and each separate occurrence shall be deemed a separate violation.
(e)
A business establishment found to be a public nuisance after a hearing before the board of aldermen shall be entitled to file an appeal to the 16th Judicial District Court for St. Martin Parish, Louisiana, within seven days from the completion of the hearing, however, such appeal shall not suspend imposition of the penalty.
(f)
Upon any subsequent finding within two years that a business establishment is a public nuisance, after a hearing by the board of aldermen, the penalty shall be revocation of the alcoholic beverage permit. Any owner of a business establishment which has had its alcoholic beverage permit revoked on the grounds of being found a public nuisance on a subsequent occasion shall be prohibited from holding an alcoholic beverage permit issued by the city for a period of five years.
(Ord. No. 1037-A, 6-27-1995)
