12-47-301, Licensing In General
12-47-301. Licensing in General.
(1) No local licensing authority shall issue a license provided for in this article or article 46 or 48 of this title until that share of the license fee due the state has been received by the department of revenue. All licenses granted pursuant to this article and articles 46 and 48 of this title shall be valid for a period of one year from the date of their issuance unless revoked or suspended pursuant to section 12-47-601 or 12-47-306.
(2)(a) Before granting any license, all licensing authorities shall consider, except where this article and article 46 of this title specifically provide otherwise, the reasonable requirements of the neighborhood, the desires of the adult inhabitants as evidenced by petitions, remonstrances, or otherwise, and all other reasonable restrictions that are or may be placed upon the neighborhood by the local licensing authority. With respect to a second or additional license described in section 12-47-401(1)(j) to (1)(t) or in a financial institution referred to in section 12-47-308(4) for the same licensee, all licensing authorities shall consider the effect on competition of the granting or disapproving of additional licenses to such licensee, and no application for a second or additional hotel and restaurant or vintner's restaurant license that would have the effect of restraining competition shall be approved.
(b) A local licensing authority or the state on state-owned property may deny the issuance of any new tavern or retail liquor store license whenever such authority determines that the issuance of such license would result in or add to an undue concentration of the same class of license and, as a result, require the use of additional law enforcement resources.
(3) (a) Each license issued under this article and article 46 of this title is separate and distinct. It is unlawful for any person to exercise any of the privileges granted under any license other than that which the person holds or for any licensee to allow any other person to exercise such privileges granted under the licensee's license, except as provided in section 12-47-402 (2.5), 12-47-403 (2) (a), or 12-47-403.5. A separate license shall be issued for each specific business or business entity and each geographical location, and in said license the particular alcohol beverages the applicant is authorized to manufacture or sell shall be named and described. For purposes of this section, a resort complex with common ownership, a hotel and restaurant licensee with optional premises, an optional premises licensee for optional premises located on an outdoor sports and recreational facility, and a wine festival at which more than one licensee participates pursuant to a wine festival permit shall be considered a single business and location.
(b) At all times a licensee shall possess and maintain possession of the premises or optional premises for which the license is issued by ownership, lease, rental, or other arrangement for possession of such premises.
(4) (a) The licenses provided pursuant to this article and article 46 of this title shall specify the date of issuance, the period which is covered, the name of the licensee, the premises or optional premises licensed, the optional premises in the case of a hotel and restaurant license, and the alcohol beverages that may be sold on such premises or optional premises. The license shall be conspicuously placed at all times on the licensed premises or optional premises, and all sheriffs and police officers shall see to it that every person selling alcohol beverages within their jurisdiction has procured a license to do so.
(b) No local licensing authority shall issue, transfer location of, or renew any license to sell any alcohol beverages until the person applying for such license produces a license issued and granted by the state licensing authority covering the whole period for which a license or license renewal is sought.
(5) In computing any period of time prescribed by this article, the day of the act, event, or default from which the designated period of time begins to run shall not be included. Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays shall be counted as any other day.
(6) Licensees at facilities owned by a municipality, county, or special district may possess and serve for on-premises consumption any type of malt, vinous, and spirituous liquor or fermented malt beverage as may be permitted pursuant to guidelines established by the local and state licensing authorities and need not have meals available for consumption. However, fermented malt beverages and malt, vinous, and spirituous liquors may not be served on the same premises at the same time.
(7) A licensee shall report each transfer or change of financial interest in the license to the state licensing authority and, for retail licenses, to the local licensing authority, within thirty days after the transfer or change. A report shall be required for transfers of capital stock of a public corporation; except that a report shall not be required for transfers of such stock totaling less than ten percent in any one year, but any transfer of a controlling interest shall be reported regardless of size. It is unlawful for the licensee to fail to report a transfer required by this subsection (8). Such failure to report shall be grounds for suspension or revocation of the license.
(8) Each licensee holding a fermented malt beverage on-premises license or on- and off-premises license, beer and wine license, tavern license, club license, arts license, or racetrack license shall manage such premises himself or herself or employ a separate and distinct manager on the premises and shall report the name of such manager to the state and local licensing authorities. Such licensee shall report any change in managers to the state and local licensing authorities within thirty days after the change. It is unlawful for the licensee to fail to report the name of or any change in managers as required by this subsection (8). Such failure to report shall be grounds for suspension of the license.
(9)(a) A licensee may move his or her permanent location to any other place in the same city, town, or city and county for which the license was originally granted, or in the same county if such license was granted for a place outside the corporate limits of any city, town, or city and county, but it shall be unlawful to sell any alcohol beverage at any such place until permission to do so is granted by all the licensing authorities provided for in this article.
(b) In permitting such change of location, such licensing authorities shall consider the reasonable requirements of the neighborhood to which the applicant seeks to change his or her location, the desires of the adult inhabitants as evidenced by petitions, remonstrances, or otherwise, and all reasonable restrictions that are or may be placed upon the new district by the council, board of trustees, or licensing authority of the city, town, or city and county or by the board of county commissioners of any county.
(10)(a) The provisions of this subsection (10) shall only apply within a county, city and county, or municipality if the governing body of the county, city and county, or municipality adopts an ordinance or resolution authorizing tastings pursuant to this subsection(10). The ordinance or resolution may provide for stricter limits than this subsection (10) on the number of tastings per year per licensee, the days on which tastings may occur, or the number of hours each tasting may last.
(b) A retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee who wishes to conduct tastings may submit an application or application renewal to the local licensing authority. The local licensing authority may reject the application if the applicant fails to establish that he or she is able to conduct tastings without violating the provisions of this section or creating a public safety risk to the neighborhood. A local licensing authority may establish its own application procedure and may charge a reasonable application fee.
(c) Tastings shall be subject to the following limitations:
(I) Tastings shall be conducted only a person who has completed a server training program that meets the standards established by the Liquor Enforcement Division in the Department of Revenue and who is either a retail liquor store licensee or a liquor-licensed drugstore licensee, or an employee of a licensee, and only on a licensee' licensed premises.
(II) The alcohol used in tastings shall be purchased through a licensed wholesaler, licensed brew pub, or winery licensed pursuant to section-12-47-403 at a cost that is not less than the lain-in cost of such alcohol.
(III) The size of an individual alcohol sample shall not exceed one ounce of malt or vinous liquor or one-half of one ounce of spirituous liquor.
(IV) Tastings shall not exceed a total of five hours in duration per day, which need not be consecutive.
(V) Tastings shall be conducted only during the operating hours in which the licensee on whose premises the tastings occur is permitted to sell alcohol beverages, and in no case earlier than 11 a.m. or later than 7 p.m.
(VI) The licensee shall prohibit patrons from leaving the licensed premises with an unconsumed sample.
(VII) The licensee shall promptly remove all open and unconsumed alcohol beverage samples from the licensed premises or shall destroy the samples immediately following the completion of the tasting.
(VII) The licensee shall not serve a person who is under twenty-one years of age or who is visibly intoxicated.
(IX) The licensee shall not serve more than four individual samples to a patron during a tasting.
(X) Alcohol samples shall be in open containers and shall be provided to a patron free of charge.
(XI) Tastings may occur on no more than four of the six days from a Monday to the following Saturday, not to exceed one hundred four days per year.
(XII) No manufacturer or spirituous or vinous liquors shall induce a licensee through free goods or financial or in-kind assistance to favor the manufacturer's products being sampled at a tasting. The licensee shall bear the financial and all other responsibility for a tasting.
(d) A violation of a limitation specified in this subsection (10) or of section 12-47-801 my a retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee, whether by his or her employees, agents, or otherwise, shall be the responsibility of the retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee who is conducting the tasting.
(e) A retail liquor store or liquor-licensed drugstore licensee conducting a tasting shall be subject to the same revocation, suspension, and enforcement provisions as otherwise apply to the licensee.
(f) Nothing in this subsection (10) shall affect the ability of a Colorado winery licensed pursuant to section 12-47-402 or 12-47-403 to conduct a tasting pursuant to the authority of section 12-47-402 (2) or 12-47-403 (2)(e).