(A) No permit, other than an H permit, shall be issued to a firm or partnership unless all the members of the firm or partnership are citizens of the United States. No permit, other than an H permit, shall be issued to an individual who is not a citizen of the United States. No permit, other than an E or H permit, shall be issued to any corporation organized under the laws of any country, territory, or state other than this state until it has furnished the division of liquor control with evidence that it has complied with the laws of this state relating to the transaction of business in this state.
The division may refuse to issue any permit to or refuse to renew any permit of any person convicted of any felony that is reasonably related to the person's fitness to operate a liquor permit business in this state. No holder of a permit shall sell, assign, transfer, or pledge the permit without the written consent of the division.
(B)(1) No D-3 permit shall be issued to any club unless the club has been continuously engaged in the activity specified in section4303.15of the Revised Code, as a qualification for that class of permit, for two years at the time the permit is issued.
(2)(a) Subject to division (B)(2)(b) of this section, upon application by properly qualified persons, one C-1 and C-2 permit shall be issued for each one thousand population or part of that population, and one D-1 and D-2 permit shall be issued for each two thousand population or part of that population, in each municipal corporation and in the unincorporated area of each township.
Subject to division (B)(2)(b) of this section, not more than one D-3, D-4, or D-5 permit shall be issued for each two thousand population or part of that population in any municipal corporation and in the unincorporated area of any township, except that, in any city of a population of fifty-five thousand or more, one D-3 permit may be issued for each fifteen hundred population or part of that population.
(b)(i) Division (B)(2)(a) of this section does not prohibit the transfer of location or the transfer of ownership and location of a C-1, C-2, D-1, D-2, D-3, or D-5 permit from a municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of a township to an economic development project located in another municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of another township in which no additional permits of that class may be issued to the applicant under division (B)(2)(a) of this section. However, the transfer may occur only if the applicant notifies the municipal corporation or township to which the location of the permit will be transferred regarding the transfer and the municipal corporation or township acknowledges in writing to the division of liquor control that the transfer will be to an economic development project. The municipal corporation or township shall submit the acknowledgment at the time the application for the transfer is filed with the division.
The acknowledgment by the municipal corporation or township does not prohibit it from requesting a hearing under section4303.26of the Revised Code. The applicant is eligible to apply for and receive the transfer of location of the permit under division (B)(2)(b) of this section if permits of that class that may be issued under division (B)(2)(a) of this section in the applicable municipal corporation or unincorporated area of the township have already been issued or if the number of applications filed for permits of that class in that municipal corporation or the unincorporated area of that township exceed the number of permits of that class that may be issued there under division (B)(2)(a) of this section.
A permit transferred under division (B)(2)(b) of this section may be subsequently transferred to a different owner at the same location, or to the same owner or a different owner at a different location in the same municipal corporation or in the unincorporated area of the same township.
(ii) Factors that may be used to determine the designation of an economic development project include, but are not limited to, architectural certification of the plans and the cost of the project, the number of jobs that will be created by the project, projected earnings of the project, projected tax revenues for the political subdivisions in which the project will be located, and the amount of financial investment in the project. The superintendent of liquor control shall determine whether the existing or proposed business that is seeking a permit described in division (B)(2)(b) of this section qualifies as an economic development project and, if the superintendent determines that it so qualifies, shall designate the business as an economic development project.
(3) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of a permit to a municipal corporation for use at a municipally owned airport at which commercial airline companies operate regularly scheduled flights on which space is available to the public. A municipal corporation applying for a permit for such a municipally owned airport is exempt, in regard to that application, from all of the following:
(a) The population quota restrictions contained in this section;
(b) The population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission;
(c) Section4303.31of the Revised Code.
(4) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the issuance of a D permit to the board of trustees of a soldiers' memorial for a premises located at a soldiers' memorial established pursuant to Chapter 345. of the Revised Code. An application for a D permit by the board for those premises is exempt from the population restrictions contained in this section and from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission. The location of a D permit issued to the board for those premises shall not be transferred. A board of trustees of a soldiers' memorial applying for a D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, or D-5 permit for the soldiers' memorial is subject to section4303.31of the Revised Code.
(5) Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of a permit for a premises located at a golf course owned by a municipal corporation, township, or county, owned by a park district created under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, or owned by the state. The location of such a permit issued on or after September 26, 1984, for a premises located at such a golf course shall not be transferred. Any application for such a permit is exempt from all of the following:
(a) The population quota restrictions contained in this section;
(b) The population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission;
(c) Section4303.31of the Revised Code.
(6) As used in division (B)(6) of this section, "fair" has the same meaning as in section991.01of the Revised Code; "state fairgrounds" means the property that is held by the state for the purpose of conducting fairs, expositions, and exhibits and that is maintained and managed by the Ohio expositions commission under section991.03of the Revised Code; "capitol square" has the same meaning as in section105.41of the Revised Code; and "Ohio judicial center" means the site of the Ohio supreme court and its grounds.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of one or more D permits to one or more applicants for all or a part of the state fairgrounds, capitol square, or the Ohio judicial center. An application for a D permit for the state fairgrounds, capitol square, or the Ohio judicial center is exempt from the population quota restrictions contained in this section and from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission. The location of a D permit issued for the state fairgrounds, capitol square, or the Ohio judicial center shall not be transferred. An applicant for a D-1, D-2, D-3, or D-5 permit for the state fairgrounds is not subject to section4303.31of the Revised Code.
Pursuant to section1711.09of the Revised Code, the holder of a D permit issued for the state fairgrounds shall not deal in spirituous liquor at the state fairgrounds during, or for one week before or for three days after, any fair held at the state fairgrounds.
(7) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the issuance of a D permit for a premises located at a zoological park at which sales have been approved in an election held under former section4301.356of the Revised Code. An application for a D permit for such a premises is exempt from the population restrictions contained in this section, from the population quota restrictions contained in any rule of the liquor control commission, and from section4303.31of the Revised Code. The location of a D permit issued for a premises at such a zoological park shall not be transferred, and no quota or other restrictions shall be placed on the number of D permits that may be issued for a premises at such a zoological park.
(8) As used in division (B)(8) of this section, "park district" means a park district that is created under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code consisting of not less than twenty-two thousand acres of land, a portion of which is adjacent to Lake Erie.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to restrict the issuance of a D permit for a premises located in a park district. An application for a D permit for such a premises is exempt from the population quota restrictions contained in this section and in any rule of the liquor control commission. The location of a D permit issued for a premises in a park district shall not be transferred. An applicant for a D-1, D-2, D-3, or D-5 permit for a premises located in a park district is not subject to section4303.31of the Revised Code.
(C)(1) No D-3, D-4, D-5, or D-5a permit shall be issued in any election precinct in any municipal corporation or in any election precinct in the unincorporated area of any township, in which at the November, 1933, election a majority of the electors voting thereon in the municipal corporation or in the unincorporated area of the township voted against the repeal of Section 9 of Article XV, Ohio Constitution, unless the sale of spirituous liquor by the glass is authorized by a majority vote of the electors voting on the question in the precinct at an election held pursuant to this section or by a majority vote of the electors of the precinct voting on question (C) at a special local option election held in the precinct pursuant to section4301.35of the Revised Code. Upon the request of an elector, the board of elections of the county that encompasses the precinct shall furnish the elector with a copy of the instructions prepared by the secretary of state under division (P) of section3501.05of the Revised Code and, within fifteen days after the request, a certificate of the number of signatures required for a valid petition under this section.
Upon the petition of thirty-five per cent of the total number of voters voting in any such precinct for the office of governor at the preceding general election, filed with the board of elections of the county in which such precinct is located not later than ninety days before a general election, the board shall prepare ballots and hold an election at such general election upon the question of allowing spirituous liquor to be sold by the glass in such precinct. The ballots shall be approved in form by the secretary of state. The results of the election shall be certified by the board to the secretary of state, who shall certify the results to the division.
(2) No holder of a class D-3 permit issued for a boat or vessel shall sell spirituous liquor in any precinct, in which the election provided for in this section may be held, unless the sale of spirituous liquor by the drink has been authorized by vote of the electors as provided in this section or in section4301.35of the Revised Code.
(D) Any holder of a C or D permit whose permit premises were purchased in 1986 or 1987 by the state or any state agency for highway purposes shall be issued the same permit at another location notwithstanding any quota restrictions contained in this chapter or in any rule of the liquor control commission.