2017 Idaho Statutes
Title 23 - ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Chapter 9 - RETAIL SALE OF LIQUOR BY THE DRINK
Section 23-903 - LICENSE TO RETAIL LIQUOR.

23-903. License to retail liquor. (1) The director of the Idaho state police is hereby empowered, authorized, and directed to issue licenses to qualified applicants, as herein provided, whereby the licensee shall be authorized and permitted to sell liquor by the drink at retail and, upon the issuance of such license, the licensee therein named shall be authorized to sell liquor at retail by the drink, but only in accordance with the rules promulgated by the director and the provisions of this chapter. No license shall be issued for the sale of liquor on any premises outside the incorporated limits of any city except as provided in this chapter and the number of licenses so issued for any city shall not exceed one (1) license for each one thousand five hundred (1,500) of population of said city or fraction thereof, as established in the last preceding census, or any subsequent special census conducted by the United States bureau of the census or by an estimate that is statistically valid including adding the number of new residential utility connections or including adding the population of areas annexed into the city after the last census or special census was conducted, except that upon proper application thereof not more than two (2) licenses may be issued for each incorporated city with a population of one thousand five hundred (1,500) or less, unless the retail licensing of liquor by the drink has been previously disapproved under the provisions of sections 23-917, 23-918, 23-919, 23-920 and 23-921, Idaho Code; provided however, that any license heretofore issued may be renewed from year to year without regard to the population or status of the city for which such license is issued. Any license issued and which has remained in effect at its location for a consecutive period of ten (10) years or more shall be deemed to have been validly issued and may be renewed from year to year provided however, that the applicant for the renewal of such license is not otherwise disqualified for licensure pursuant to section 23-910, Idaho Code, and, if the premises required special characteristics for original licensure, other than being either within or without the incorporated limits of a city, that said premises continue to have such special characteristics at the time of the application for renewal.

(2) Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of an actual bona fide golf course whether located within or without the limits of any city, or located on premises also operated as a winery or ski resort, or to the lessee of any premises situate thereon, whether located within or without the limits of any city. For the purpose of this section, a golf course shall comprise an actual bona fide golf course, which is regularly used for the playing of the game of golf, and having not less than nine (9) tees, fairways and greens laid out and used in the usual and regular manner of a golf course. Nine (9) hole courses must have a total yardage of at least one thousand (1,000) yards, and eighteen (18) hole courses must have a total yardage of at least two thousand (2,000) yards as measured by totaling the tee-to-green distance of all holes. The course must be planted in grass except that it may provide artificial tee mats. Where any such golf course is owned or leased by an association of members and is used or enjoyed by such members or their guests, none of the disqualifications contained in section 23-910, Idaho Code, shall apply to such association as a licensee where such disqualifications, or any of them, would apply only to a member of such association where such member has no interest therein except as a member thereof.

(3) Also for the purpose of this section, a ski resort shall comprise real property of not less than ten (10) acres in size, exclusive of the terrain used for skiing and upon which the owner, operator or lessee of the ski resort has made available himself or through others, including, but not limited to, the owners of condominiums, permanent bona fide overnight accommodations available to the general public for one hundred (100) persons or more, and which real property is contiguous to or located within the area in which skiing occurs, and which real property is regularly operated as a ski resort in the wintertime, and where the owner, operator or lessee of the ski resort is also the owner, operator or lessee of the area served by a bona fide chair ski lift facility or facilities. Alternatively, for the purpose of this section, a ski resort may also be defined as a downhill ski area, open to the public, comprising real property of not less than two hundred fifty (250) skiable acres, operating two (2) or more chairlifts with a vertical lift of one thousand (1,000) feet or more, and capable of transporting a minimum of one thousand eight hundred (1,800) skiers per hour. A ski resort qualifying under this definition shall also have on the premises a lodge facility providing shelter and food service to the public, the operator of which shall also be the valid owner or lessee of the grounds and facilities upon which the ski resort offers downhill skiing services to the public. The fees for licenses granted to ski resorts shall be the same as those prescribed for golf courses as set forth in section 23-904, Idaho Code. Not more than one (1) licensed premises shall be permitted on any golf course or any ski resort or within the area comprising the same.

(4) Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of an actual bona fide equestrian facility located on not less than forty (40) contiguous acres, with permanently erected seating of not less than six thousand (6,000) seats, no part of which equestrian facility or the premises thereon is situate within the incorporated limits of any city, and which facility shall have at least three (3) days per year of a professionally sanctioned rodeo. Not more than one (1) licensed premises shall be permitted at any equestrian facility or within an area comprising such a facility. The fees for licenses granted to equestrian facilities shall be the same as those prescribed for golf courses as set forth in section 23-904, Idaho Code.

(5) Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of a restaurant operated on an airport owned or operated by a county or municipal corporation or on an airport owned or operated jointly by a county and municipal corporation, and which said airport is served by a trunk or local service air carrier holding a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the civil aeronautics board of the United States of America. Not more than one (1) license shall be issued on any airport.

(6) Nothing herein contained shall prohibit the issuance of one (1) club license to a club as defined in section 23-902, Idaho Code. The holder of a club license is authorized to sell and serve alcoholic beverages for consumption only within the licensed establishment owned, leased or occupied by the club, and only to bona fide members of the club, and to serve and to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption to bona fide members’ guests. A club license issued pursuant to the provisions of this section is not transferable and may not be sold. Any club license issued pursuant to the provisions of this section will revert to the director when, in his judgment, the licensee ceases to operate as a bona fide club as defined in section 23-902, Idaho Code. No club may hold a liquor license and a club license simultaneously. A club which on July 1, 1983, holds a liquor license, may continue to possess that license. Any club that possesses a liquor license on January 1, 1983, or thereafter, and then sells that liquor license, may not obtain a club license, and the director shall not issue a club license to that club for a period of five (5) years following such sale. The fee for any license issued to a qualifying club within an incorporated municipality shall be as prescribed in subsections (1), (2) and (3) of section 23-904, Idaho Code. The fee for any license issued to a qualifying club not situate within an incorporated municipality shall be as specified for golf courses under section 23-904(6), Idaho Code. The provisions of section 23-916, Idaho Code, regarding county and city licenses, shall pertain to club licenses. The burden of producing sufficient documentation of qualifications for club licensure shall be with the club applicant.

(7) Nothing in this chapter to the contrary shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of an actual bona fide convention center that is within the incorporated limits of a city having a population of three thousand (3,000) or greater, and which city does not have located therein a convention center with a valid convention center license to sell liquor by the drink. For the purpose of this section, a convention center means a facility having at least thirty-five thousand (35,000) square feet of floor space or a facility having at least one hundred twenty (120) sleeping rooms and an adjoining meeting room that will accommodate not less than three hundred fifty (350) persons, whether or not such room may be partitioned into smaller rooms, and provided that such meeting room shall contain at least three thousand (3,000) square feet of floor space. Such license must be placed in actual use in said convention center within one (1) year from the date of its issuance. The fee for any license issued to a qualifying convention center shall be as prescribed in subsection (3) of section 23-904, Idaho Code. The holder of a convention center license shall not be eligible for the issuance of a license in the same city pursuant to any other provision of this chapter. For purposes of this section, the term "holder" shall include an owner, operator or lessee and shall include a stockholder, director or officer of a corporation or a partner in a partnership, which corporation or partnership has been issued a convention center license pursuant to this chapter. Not more than one (1) licensed premises shall be permitted on any convention center or within the area comprising the same, including convention centers that also comprise golf courses or ski resorts as herein defined.

(8) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of a food, beverage and/or lodging facility that has been in continuous operation in the same location for at least seventy-five (75) years, except for temporary closings for refurbishing or reconstruction, or a food, beverage and lodging facility serving the public by reservation only, having a minimum of five (5) rooms operating in a structure that has been in existence for at least seventy-five (75) years and has been on the historic register for a minimum of ten (10) years, is situated within five hundred (500) yards of a natural lake containing a minimum of thirty-six thousand (36,000) acre feet of water when full with a minimum of thirty-two (32) miles of shoreline, and is located in a county with a minimum population of sixty-five thousand (65,000). The provisions of section 23-910, Idaho Code, shall apply to licenses issued to continuous operation facilities. The fees shall be the same as those prescribed for golf courses as set forth in section 23-904, Idaho Code.

(9) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the issuance of a license to a federally recognized Indian tribe as defined in section 67-4001, Idaho Code, which is an owner, operator or lessee of a food, conference and lodging facility located within the boundaries of the Indian tribe’s reservation and containing a minimum of thirty-five thousand (35,000) square feet and fifty (50) guest rooms. Licenses issued to Indian tribes are not transferable.

(10) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of the lodging, dining and entertainment facilities owned by a gondola resort complex and operated in conjunction with the other public services provided by a gondola resort complex located within the ownership/leasehold boundaries of a gondola resort complex.

A gondola resort complex means an actual bona fide gondola capable of transporting people for recreational and/or entertainment purposes at least three (3) miles in length with a vertical rise of three thousand (3,000) feet, portions of which may be located within or over the limits of one (1) or more cities.

(11) Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of a winery also operating a golf course on the premises.

(12) Subject to approval of the mayor and city council, nothing in this chapter shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of a food, conference and lodging facility constructed after May 1, 2000, containing a minimum of thirty-five thousand (35,000) square feet and fifty-five (55) guest rooms with a minimum taxable value of three million dollars ($3,000,000) in a city with a population of less than five thousand (5,000) according to the most recent census.

(13) Nothing contained in this chapter shall prohibit the issuance of a license to the owner, operator or lessee of a conference and event center that is within the city limits of a resort city as defined in section 50-1044, Idaho Code, that has enacted local option nonproperty taxes in accordance with section 50-1046, Idaho Code, including, at the time of issuance, a resort city tax on sales of liquor by the drink, wine and beer sold at retail for consumption on the licensed premises. There shall be only one (1) conference and event center license to sell liquor by the drink issued per resort city pursuant to this subsection. For the purposes of this section, a conference and event center means facilities situated on premises consisting of a building or buildings and the contiguous property owned or leased and under common ownership or control by the licensee. Such facilities must provide not less than four thousand (4,000) square feet of enclosed space for conference and event purposes, exclusive of space dedicated by the licensee to the commercial kitchen. The commercial kitchen must include a type 1 commercial hood and cooking equipment, exclusive of microwave ovens and grills. The fee for any license issued to a qualifying licensee shall be as prescribed in section 23-904(1), (2) or (3), Idaho Code, depending on the population of the resort city in which the conference and event center is located and as prescribed in section 23-916, Idaho Code. A license issued pursuant to this section may be renewed without regard to the population or status of the city for which the license was issued and without regard for the continuation of local option nonproperty taxes by the city, provided the applicant for renewal is not otherwise disqualified from licensure pursuant to section 23-910, Idaho Code. Not more than one (1) license shall be issued to a conference and event center. A conference and event center license shall not be transferable and may not be sold. For the purpose of issuance and maintenance of a license under this subsection, such facilities may serve liquor only while such facilities are hosting a conference or event. Nothing in this subsection shall excuse a conference and event center from complying with actual use standards in title 23, Idaho Code, or administrative rules promulgated pursuant to statutory authority granted under this title.

(14) The provisions of section 23-910, Idaho Code, shall apply to licenses issued under the provisions of this section. The fees shall be the same as those prescribed for golf courses as set forth in section 23-904, Idaho Code. Except for licenses issued pursuant to subsection (1) of this section, licenses issued under the provisions of this section are not transferable to any other location, facility or premises.

History:

[23-903, added 1947, ch. 274, sec. 3, p. 870; am. 1957, ch. 151, sec. 1, p. 250; am. 1959, ch. 118, sec. 1, p. 254; am. 1963, ch. 215, sec. 1, p. 622; am. 1965, ch. 35, sec. 1, p. 52; am. 1972, ch. 34, sec. 1, p. 52; am. 1974, ch. 27, sec. 18, p. 811, am. 1978, ch. 126, sec. 2, p. 285; am. 1983, ch. 167, sec. 1, p. 473; am. 1983, ch. 203, sec. 2, p. 553; am. 1984, ch. 244, sec. 1, p. 591; am. 1989, ch. 164, sec. 1, p. 411; am. 1989, ch. 207, sec. 1, p. 507; am. 1989, ch. 301, sec. 1, p. 749; am. 1990, ch. 252, sec. 1, p. 722; am. 1990, ch. 255, sec. 1, p. 729; am. 1990, ch. 392, sec. 1, p. 1098; am. 1992, ch. 233, sec. 1, p. 697; am. 1993, ch. 240, sec. 1, p. 846; am. 1995, ch. 358, sec. 1, p. 1215; am. 1996, ch. 349, sec. 1, p. 1168; am. 1997, ch. 263, sec. 1, p. 749; am. 2000, ch. 469, sec. 63, p. 1512; am. 2004, ch. 44, sec. 1, p. 165; am. 2006, ch. 449, sec. 3, p. 1335; am. 2008, ch. 335, sec. 1, p. 920; am. 2008, ch. 405, sec. 1, p. 1110; am. 2013, ch. 167, sec. 1, p. 382; am. 2013, ch. 278, sec. 1, p. 718; am. 2015, ch. 333, sec. 1, p. 1260.]