A person intending to apply for a license to operate a private club under the provisions of this article at any location within a municipality shall file a notice of such intention with the clerk or recorder of such municipality at least ten days prior to filing an application for such a license with the commissioner. Such notice shall include the address and a general description of the premises to be licensed, the food services to be offered and the patron capacity of the club. The clerk or recorder of the municipality shall report such notice to the governing body of such municipality at its next regular meeting or special meeting to be held not sooner than two days thereafter, together with a report of the zoning administrator for such municipality, if there be any as to whether:

Terms Used In West Virginia Code 60-7-4a

  • Commissioner: means the West Virginia Alcohol Beverage Control Commissioner. See West Virginia Code 60-7-2
  • Private club: means any corporation or unincorporated association which either:

    (A) Belongs to or is affiliated with a nationally recognized fraternal or veterans' organization which is operated exclusively for the benefit of its members, which pays no part of its income to its shareholders or individual members, which owns or leases a building or other premises to which club are admitted only duly- elected or approved dues-paying members in good standing of the corporation or association and their guests while in the company of a member and to which club the general public is not admitted, and which maintains in the building or on the premises a suitable kitchen and dining facility with related equipment for serving food to members and their guests. See West Virginia Code 60-7-2

(1) The proposed location of said private club is consistent with the zoning ordinances as either a permitted use or a conditional use of such premises; and

(2) The premises are situate in an area designated for the use of community development block grant funds in the municipality, and, if so situate, whether the planned use of the premises is consistent with any plan adopted by the governing body for revitalization or rehabilitation of such area.

Within ten days of such report, the governing body may submit written comment upon such intended use to the commissioner, who shall deny the license upon a finding that the use of the premises is neither a permitted nor a conditional use under the zoning ordinances of such municipality and that the municipality provides within its business zones suitable alternative locations. The commissioner may deny the license upon a finding that such use is incompatible with any plan adopted by the governing body for revitalization or rehabilitation of the area wherein such premises are situate. The municipality shall not unreasonably exclude a use of the premises which is compatible with such plan or zoning ordinance solely because the use includes premises licensed under this article.