Sec. 154.100. - Findings.

(a) Alcoholic beverages can be addictive, dangerous and abused. Those who drink alcoholic beverages sometimes injure themselves, their family or innocent third parties. (b) Those who sell alcoholic beverages profit off those who consume the alcoholic beverages, whether those consumers use alcoholic beverages responsibly or abuse acholic beverages. (c) Due to the misuse of alcoholic beverages, the State and the City consider the sale of alcoholic beverages to be a privilege that carries with it important and sometimes burdensome responsibilities. (d) The City has enhanced police power over alcoholic beverages pursuant to the Twenty-First Amendment to the United States Constitution and, in enacting the provisions of this Chapter, the Council is exercising the full strength of that Twenty-First Amendment power. (e) Limited Sunday sales mean fewer sales of alcohol to minors, fewer drunk drivers and fewer problems caused by use of alcoholic beverages. A large percentage of problems from the sale of alcoholic beverages occur due to off-premise sale and sales at places commonly known as bars, places whose main business is the sale of alcoholic beverages. Bars are often located in neighborhoods where Sunday alcohol sales would disrupt the peace and quietude of such neighborhoods. (f) The purpose of Section 154.302 is to permit certain licensed vendors to sell alcoholic beverages on Sundays. These vendors include bona fide restaurants. In order to be a bona fide restaurant, the establishment must, among other things, have sales of food and nonalcoholic beverages that consistently make up at least 51 percent of the establishment's gross sales. To establish such consistency, an establishment that sells or serves alcoholic beverages on Sundays must sell 51 percent food and nonalcoholic beverages during each of the time periods referred to in Section 154.302(b). An establishment that fails to sell sufficient food and nonalcoholic beverages during any time period is prohibited from selling on Sundays until it satisfies all the sales requirements in Section 154.302(b). Licensed vendors are required to keep records and be aware of the percentage of their sales in order to be sure that they comply with the Sunday sales laws. (g) The sole purpose of Section 154.303 is to give to the Sheriff notice of which licensed vendors intend to sell alcoholic beverages on Sunday. This notification enables the Sheriff to concentrate resources on those who actually intend to sell alcoholic beverages on Sunday. Nothing in Section 154.303 grants the right to sell alcoholic beverages on Sunday. Only Section 154.302 grants the exceptions to Section 154.301 , and therefore, only Section 154.302 allows some vendors to sell alcoholic beverages on Sunday. (h) Meal packages where the sale of food and alcoholic beverages are dependent on one another are used to circumvent the requirement that restaurants serve at least 51 percent food and nonalcoholic beverages. Consequently, meal packages which include alcoholic beverages are prohibited. (Ord. 90-388-333, § 1)