Cripple Creek council to consider rewrite of liquor rules

Cripple Creek City Council is scheduled to consider a rewrite of the city’s liquor regulations Wednesday, including new fees, enforcement procedures and authority for the City Clerk to handle many routine license decisions.

The proposal, listed on the council’s Sept. 16 agenda as “Proposed Liquor Code Changes,” would repeal and reenact Article 5 of Chapter 6 of the Cripple Creek Municipal Code. The council packet includes the draft ordinance presented by City Attorney Evin King.

The draft would require a city license or permit to sell alcoholic beverages and require compliance with federal, state and local laws and license conditions. Application, license and investigation fees would be set at the maximum amounts authorized by the state liquor-fee schedule. Investigation charges could include fingerprinting, Colorado Bureau of Investigation reports and other costs.

Fees would become nonrefundable once the City Clerk determines an application is complete. The draft also would authorize inspections permitted under state law and require applicants to provide information needed to evaluate their qualifications and premises.

The Liquor Licensing Authority would retain power to approve, deny, suspend, revoke or condition licenses and permits. The proposal would delegate many uncontested applications to the City Clerk, including new licenses, renewals, ownership transfers, business-name or corporate-structure changes, premises modifications, special-event permits, tasting permits and temporary licenses.

The Clerk could refer an application to the authority when a public hearing would better serve the public interest. Applicants could appeal a Clerk denial in writing within 10 business days and request a hearing before the authority. Without a timely appeal, the Clerk’s decision would become final.

The draft would set license terms at one year and establish procedures for late renewals. It generally would require a new application after a license had been expired for more than 90 days, subject to exceptions in state law. It also would update tasting-permit rules and generally require tasting applications at least 30 days before the first tasting.

Enforcement provisions would allow state-authorized sanctions, including fines, fines in lieu of suspension, suspension, revocation and license conditions. The draft also outlines show-cause hearings, temporary or summary suspensions when allowed by state law, inspection and recordkeeping requirements, and judicial review in Teller County District Court after administrative remedies are exhausted.

If adopted, the ordinance would take effect 30 days after final publication in a newspaper of general circulation. The agenda packet is a pre-meeting record and does not establish whether the council will approve, amend or reject the proposal.