PRINTER'S NO. 872
No. 772 Session of 1985
INTRODUCED BY PRATT, BURD AND SALOOM, APRIL 9, 1985
REFERRED TO COMMITTEE ON LIQUOR CONTROL, APRIL 9, 1985
AN ACT
1 Amending the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), entitled "An
2 act relating to alcoholic liquors, alcohol and malt and
3 brewed beverages; amending, revising, consolidating and
4 changing the laws relating thereto; regulating and
5 restricting the manufacture, purchase, sale, possession,
6 consumption, importation, transportation, furnishing, holding
7 in bond, holding in storage, traffic in and use of alcoholic
8 liquors, alcohol and malt and brewed beverages and the
9 persons engaged or employed therein; defining the powers and
10 duties of the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board; providing
11 for the establishment and operation of State liquor stores,
12 for the payment of certain license fees to the respective
13 municipalities and townships, for the abatement of certain
14 nuisances and, in certain cases, for search and seizure
15 without warrant; prescribing penalties and forfeitures;
16 providing for local option, and repealing existing laws,"
17 further defining "club" and "golf course"; and regulating
18 sales by privately-owned private golf courses.
19 The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
20 hereby enacts as follows:
21 Section 1. The definitions of "club" and "golf course" in
22 section 102 of the act of April 12, 1951 (P.L.90, No.21), known
23 as the Liquor Code, added December 17, 1982 (P.L.1390, No.319),
24 are amended to read:
25 Section 102. Definitions.--The following words or phrases,
1 unless the context clearly indicates otherwise, shall have the
2 meanings ascribed to them in this section:
3 * * *
4 "Club" shall mean any reputable group of individuals
5 associated together not for profit for legitimate purposes of
6 mutual benefit, entertainment, fellowship or lawful convenience,
7 having some primary interest and activity to which the sale of
8 liquor or malt and brewed beverages shall be only secondary,
9 which, if incorporated, has been in continuous existence and
10 operation for at least one year, and if first licensed after
11 June sixteenth, one thousand nine hundred thirty-seven, shall
12 have been incorporated in this Commonwealth, and, if
13 unincorporated, for at least ten years, immediately preceding
14 the date of its application for a license under this act, and
15 which regularly occupies, as owner or lessee, a clubhouse or
16 quarters for the use of its members. Continuous existence must
17 be proven by satisfactory evidence. The board shall refuse to
18 issue a license if it appears that the charter is not in
19 possession of the original incorporators or their direct or
20 legitimate successors. The club shall hold regular meetings,
21 conduct its business through officers regularly elected, admit
22 members by written application, investigation and ballot, and
23 charge and collect dues from elected members, and maintain such
24 records as the board shall from time to time prescribe, but any
25 such club may waive or reduce in amount, or pay from its club
26 funds, the dues of any person who was a member at the time he
27 was inducted into the military service of the United States or
28 was enrolled in the armed forces of the United States pursuant
29 to any selective service act during the time of the member's
30 actual service or enrollment. The term includes a privately-
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1 owned private golf course.
2 * * *
3 "Golf course" shall mean a course having a minimum of nine
4 holes and a total length of at least twenty-five hundred yards.
5 The term includes a privately-owned private golf course.
6 * * *
7 Section 2. Section 461 of the act is amended by adding a
8 subsection to read:
9 Section 461. Limiting Number of Retail Licenses To Be Issued
10 In Each Municipality.--* * *
11 (e.2) "Privately-owned private golf course" as used in this
12 section shall mean the clubhouse at any privately-owned golf
13 course as defined in section 102 open for private membership
14 accommodations only as a club as defined in section 102. The
15 license to be issued in this instance shall be a club license.
16 * * *
17 Section 3. Section 472 of the act, amended July 11, 1980
18 (P.L.558, No.117), is amended to read:
19 Section 472. Local Option.--In any municipality or any part
20 of a municipality where such municipality is split so that each
21 part thereof is separated by another municipality, an election
22 may be held on the date of the primary election immediately
23 preceding any municipal election, but not oftener than once in
24 four years, to determine the will of the electors with respect
25 to the granting of liquor licenses to hotels, restaurants [and],
26 clubs and privately-owned private golf courses, not oftener than
27 once in four years, with respect to the granting of licenses to
28 retail dispensers of malt and brewed beverages, not oftener than
29 once in four years with respect to granting of licenses to
30 wholesale distributors and importing distributors, or not more
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1 than once in four years with respect to the establishment,
2 operation and maintenance by the board of Pennsylvania liquor
3 stores, within the limits of such municipality or part of a
4 split municipality, under the provisions of this act: Provided,
5 however, Where an election shall have been held at the primary
6 preceding a municipal election in any year, another election may
7 be held under the provisions of this act at the primary
8 occurring the fourth year after such prior election: And
9 provided further, That an election on the question of
10 establishing and operating a State liquor store shall be
11 initiated only in those municipalities, or that part of a split
12 municipality that shall have voted against the granting of
13 liquor licenses; and that an election on the question of
14 granting wholesale distributor and importing distributor
15 licenses shall be initiated only in those municipalities or
16 parts of split municipalities that shall have at a previous
17 election voted against the granting of dispenser's licenses.
18 Whenever electors equal to at least twenty-five per centum of
19 the highest vote cast for any office in the municipality or part
20 of a split municipality at the last preceding general election
21 shall file a petition with the county board of elections of the
22 county for a referendum on the question of granting any of said
23 classes of licenses or the establishment of Pennsylvania liquor
24 stores, the said county board of elections shall cause a
25 question to be placed on the ballots or on the voting machine
26 board and submitted at the primary immediately preceding the
27 municipal election. Separate petitions must be filed for each
28 question to be voted on. Said proceedings shall be in the manner
29 and subject to the provisions of the election laws which relate
30 to the signing, filing and adjudication of nomination petitions,
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1 insofar as such provisions are applicable.
2 When the question is in respect to the granting of liquor
3 licenses, it shall be in the following form:
4 Do you favor the granting of liquor licenses
5 for the sale of liquor in........................ Yes
6 of..............................................? No
7 When the question is in respect to the granting of liquor
8 licenses, for privately-owned private golf courses, it shall be
9 in the following form:
10 Do you favor the granting of liquor licenses for
11 privately-owned private golf courses for the sale
12 of liquor in.................by.................. Yes
13 of..............................................? No
14 When the question is in respect to the granting of licenses
15 to retail dispensers of malt and brewed beverages, it shall be
16 in the following form:
17 Do you favor the granting of malt and brewed
18 beverage retail dispenser licenses for
19 consumption on premises where sold in the........ Yes
20 of..............................................? No
21 When the question is in respect to the granting of licenses
22 to wholesale distributors of malt or brewed beverages and
23 importing distributors, it shall be in the following form:
24 Do you favor the granting of malt and brewed
25 beverage wholesale distributor's and importing
26 distributor's licenses not for consumption on
27 premises where sold in the....................... Yes
28 of..............................................? No
29 When the question is in respect to the establishment,
30 operation and maintenance of Pennsylvania liquor stores it shall
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1 be in the following form:
2 Do you favor the establishment, operation
3 and maintenance of Pennsylvania liquor
4 stores in the.................................... Yes
5 of..............................................? No
6 In case of a tie vote, the status quo shall obtain. If a
7 majority of the voting electors on any such question vote "yes,"
8 then liquor licenses shall be granted by the board to hotels,
9 restaurants [and], clubs and privately-owned private golf
10 courses, or malt and brewed beverage retail dispenser licenses
11 or wholesale distributor's and importing distributor's license
12 for the sale of malt or brewed beverages shall be granted by the
13 board, or the board may establish, operate and maintain
14 Pennsylvania liquor stores, as the case may be, in such
15 municipality or part of a split municipality, as provided by
16 this act; but if a majority of the electors voting on any such
17 question vote "no," then the board shall have no power to grant
18 or to renew upon their expiration any licenses of the class so
19 voted upon in such municipality or part of a split municipality;
20 or if the negative vote is on the question in respect to the
21 establishment, operation and maintenance of Pennsylvania liquor
22 stores, the board shall not open and operate a Pennsylvania
23 liquor store in such municipality or part of a split
24 municipality, nor continue to operate a then existing
25 Pennsylvania liquor store in the municipality or part of a split
26 municipality for more than two years thereafter or after the
27 expiration of the term of the lease on the premises occupied by
28 such store, whichever period is less, unless and until at a
29 later election a majority of the voting electors vote "yes" on
30 such question.
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1 Section 4. This act shall take effect immediately.
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