Inglewood Municipal Code § 8-97 Application Review and Approval Procedures

Whenever an application for a permit or license pursuant to this Article has been filed and all application and permit fees as established by Section 8-96.5 are deposited with the City Clerk, the City Clerk shall immediately refer such application, or a true copy thereof, to the Chief of Police and the Administrative Officer.

(Ord. 99-28 9-21-99)

(a) Investigation and Report. Upon receipt of a card club license application, the Administrative Officer shall cause an investigation to be made covering all matters relevant to the proposed activity of the applicant, individual pointholders and key management employees. Such matters may include but are not limited to the following:

(1) Identity, character and background of the license applicant and all pointholders, and all key management employees;

(2) Interior floor plan of buildings and site plan as to parking, traffic and aesthetics;

(3) Compliance with City's General Plan, zoning and environmental requirements;

(4) Type of tables to be used and their proposed locations, area where food arid beverages are proposed to be served and means for excluding persons under eighteen years of age from card playing areas;

(5) Type and degree of security personnel and facilities to be provided;

(6) The financial stability of the pointholders involved in the application and the financial ability of the applicant to comply with the conditions and requirements of the City in the event the application is approved.

(b) City Council Actions. Upon receiving the complete card club application arid the Administrative Officer's findings and recommendations, the City Council shall make a determination on the permit applications within forty-five days.

(c) City Council Determination. The City Council by resolution shall either grant, conditionally grant or deny the card club license application and the individual permit applications. If the City Council rules that an application be denied, the order will be accompanied by written reasons upon which the order is based. All such orders end reasons will be made public. It shall be possible for the City Council to tentatively approve the application of a license applicant, but disapprove the application for a permit of one or more of the pointholders or key management employees. In such cases the City Council can grant the license applied for subject to the condition that any pointholder or key management employee disapproved of be removed as an individual having any interest or control in the card club. Compliance with the removal condition shall be monitored, reviewed and approved of by the Administrative Officer, prior to final issuance of the card club license.

This article limits the location of licensed clubs in the City to one. The City Council shall determine, in its judgment, which, if any, of the various applicants who wish to open card clubs within such location will receive a card club license. In determining whether to grant a license, the City Council shall be guided by the policy that licenses shall be issued only to those persons who will operate such licensed clubs so as to best protect the public health, safety, morals, good order and welfare of the residents of the City. Applications shall additionally be considered on the basis of the criteria set forth in Section 8-97.1 without being limited thereto. The action of the City Council in accordance with this ordinance shall be final. In the event the findings or actions of the City Council shall be challenged, the challenger shall be required to pay the total costs of defense of such challenge unless it is the prevailing party.

(d) Requirements for Issuance. In the event a full and complete application for a card club license is presented to the City Council, and the payments required by this Article in connection therewith have been duly made to the City, and the investigations and reports required under the provisions of this Article have been duly completed, the City Council shall have jurisdiction to consider such application. The application shall be considered on the basis of the following, without being limited thereto:

(1) The effect of the granting of such license insofar as the same would affect business, employment and economics in the City;

(2) The financial stability of the applicants, key management employees and pointholders, including the personal history, business experience, general reputation, character and any other matters deemed by the Council to be necessary or important;

(3) The business and financial history of the key management employees of the enterprise or other manager or active operating head, including his or her personal history, moral background, reputation and character; and

(4) Any other relevant data, facts or considerations.

(e) Grounds for Denial. The City Council may, in its discretion, deny or condition a license or permit application for any of the following reasons, without being limited thereto, or for any other reason consistent with the general policy of this Article:

(1) Conviction of any crime punishable as a felony or of any crime of violence, any crime involving fraud, gambling, loan cere, bookmaking, thievery, bunco, moral turpitude or any crime involving evasion of taxes, or any other crime of moral turpitude indicating a lack of business integrity or business honesty, whether committed in the State of California or elsewhere, whether denominated as a felony or as a misdemeanor and notwithstanding the passage of time since the conviction;

(2) Failure of the applicant to have a valid registration from the Attorney General of the State of California issued pursuant to the Gaming Registration Act;

(3) Failure of the proposed business or activity to be operated in compliance with Federal, state or city law or regulation;

(4) Identification by any law enforcement agency, legislative body or crime commission as a member of, or an associate of, organized criminal elements;

(5) Knowingly making any false statement in the application or as to any other information presented as part of the application process;

(6) Failure to satisfy the City Council as to the source of funds to be invested in the proposed venture;

(7) Prior unsuitable operation as a card or gaming licensee in another jurisdiction without regard to whether disciplinary action was taken at that time or whether the acts were sufficient to justify revocation of a license;

(8) Applicant does not have the financial capability or business experience to operate a card club in a manner which would adequately protect the patrons of the card club and the citizens of the community;

(9) Applicant is presently under indictment or the subject of a criminal complaint for any of the crimes described in subsection (1) above;

(10) Making or causing to be made any statement in an application or document provided to the City Council or its agents or orally to a City Council member or agent in connection with an application, which statement was at the time and in the light of the circumstances under which it was made, knowingly false or misleading;

(11) Lack of evidence that there is adequate financing available to pay potential current obligations and, in addition, to provide adequate working capital to finance opening of the card club proposed;

(12) Failure of any person named in the application when summoned by the City Council to appear and testify before it or its agents at such time and place as it may designate;

(13) Inadequate security plan;

(14) Proposed location of card club in an area other than a card club site;

(15) The Division of Gambling Control may object to the issuance of gambling establishment employee work permits. The City shall deny work permits to any persons to whom the Division of Gambling Control objects;

(16) Failure of the applicant to clearly establish eligibility and qualification in accordance with California Business and Professions Code Section 19850A;

(17) Contumacious defiance by the applicant of any legislative investigatory body, or other official investigatory body of any state or of the United States, when that body is engaged in the investigation of crimes relating to gambling, official corruption related to gambling activities; or criminal profiteering activity or organized crime, as defined by Section 186.2 of the California Penal Code;

(18) The applicant is less than twenty-one years of age.

(Ord. 99-28 9-21-99; Ord. 99-31 9-28-99)

(a) Administrative Officer Authorized to Grant. The application for a card club operations certificate and all related materials including detailed site and floor plans, and detailed statements of security and operations procedures shall be reviewed by the Administrative Officer and such staff as he may designate. The plans and specifications required by this Section shall be in sufficient detail to obtain building permits.

The Administrative Officer shall have the authority to grant, conditionally grant or deny issuance of a card club operations certificate in accordance with the criteria set forth in Section 8-97.2(b).

The Administrative Officer shall approve or disapprove any plans, specifications or proposed procedures within forty days of receipt thereof. Any disapproval shall be in writing and shall include reasons for the disapproval. Any item neither approved nor disapproved within forty days shall be deemed approved. The applicant, upon receipt of a disapproval, shall revise those plans, specifications or procedures which are disapproved and resubmit to the Administrative Officer.

(b) Criteria for Issuance of a Card Club Operations Certificate. A card club operations certificate is required before a card club licensee can commence operations. The certificate shall be issued when all of the following have been complied with:

(1) The applicant has a valid card club license;

(2) The card club site has been fully developed in accordance with all plans and specifications submitted to and approved by City and the site has been inspected to verify compliance with all such plans and specifications;

(3) The applicant has taken all steps necessary to insure that the be operated in the manner set forth in this Article and as approved by the has documented such to the satisfaction of the Administrative Officer;

(4) All zoning, environmental, building and any other local or state requirements for the design, construction or operation of the card club have been complied with.

(5) The "card club site" must be located in a C-R zone, or any such area or zone authorized and permitted pursuant to the Inglewood zoning ordinance and other applicable statutes and/or regulations, provided that such site shall not be located near any existing school or existing building used primarily as a place of worship, an existing playground or other area of juvenile congregation, an existing hospital, convalescence facility or near another similarly unsuitable area.

(c) A current card club Licensee who has operated a card club for a consecutive five-year period, may request a conditional card club operations certificate for the purpose of relocating the card club to another location. Such request must be in writing, addressed to the City Administrative Officer. Issuance of a conditional card club operations certificate shall be subject to compliance with the conditions and requirements of this Section, and in no way shall allow such Licensee to commence operations at the new location prior to compliance with the requirements of this Section, including, but not limited to provisions of state and local law. A conditional card club operations certificate shall not be issued for a period exceeding ninety days. Such conditional card club operations permit may be renewed, upon a showing of good cause, upon written request to the City Administrative Officer. Any such extensions shall be subject to the consent and approval of the City Council. Nothing in this Section shall imply that more than one card club may be authorized to operate within the City at any time.

(Ord. 99-28 9-21-99; Ord. 06-05 4-18-06)

If the action of the City Council, or the City Administrator as appropriate, on any application is to grant the same, the Finance Director or designee may thereupon issue the necessary licenses, permits and renewals thereof upon payment of fees as required by this Article, until such time as such license or permit is either surrendered, suspended, revoked or expires.

(Ord. 99-28 9-21-99; Ord. 06-05 4-18-06; Ord. 07-08 4-25-07)

The provisions of this Section shall become applicable only in the event that it is no longer possible to operate the card club at the Hollywood Park location approved by the voters. The card club licensee and permit holder shall notify the City of its intent to relocate not later than ninety days prior to such relocation. Such notice of intent to move must include documentation to support the conclusion that it is or upon the happening of an event, it will no longer be possible to operate the card club at the Hollywood Park location.

Any relocation of the card club must comply with all other requirements of this Article, as well as the zoning, building and other applicable state and local laws and regulations. Such new location must be approved by a majority vote of the City Council via a public hearing notice in accordance with local and state requirements, but in no event shall such notice be less than two weeks notice to all property owners within a five hundred feet radius and publication in a local newspaper of general circulation. Such public hearing may be held concurrently with any public hearings that may be required for planning, zoning or land use issues, provided that there is a specific site identified prior to the time of such hearing(s). In approving or denying the requested relocation, the City Council shall issue factual findings in support of its decision. Such findings shall not be limited to site related issues, but may include any such issues that the City Council determines to have a reasonable relationship to the decision before them.

(Ord. 06-05 4-18-06)