§ 3-7-16.8. Additional license - City of Providence. In addition to the licenses provided for in this chapter, the board of licenses of the city of Providence is authorized to establish and issue the following license. Before granting a license to any person under the provisions of § 3-7-16.8, the board of licenses of the city of Providence shall give notice by advertisement published once a week for at least two (2) weeks in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city of Providence. The advertisement shall contain the name of the applicant and a description by street and number or other plain designation of the particular location for which the license is requested. Notice of the application shall also be given, by mail, to all owners of property within two hundred feet (200') of the place of business seeking the application. The cost of the application shall be borne by the applicant. The notices shall state that remonstrants are entitled to be heard before the granting of the license and shall name the time and place of the hearing. At the time and place, the remonstrants shall be granted a full opportunity to make their objections before the licensing board acts upon the application.

(1) Class S license -- Supper club -- Food and Nightclub.

(i) A retailer's Class S license is issued only to a licensed, bona fide tavern keeper or victualer whose tavern or victualing house may be open for business and regularly patronized at least from nine o'clock (9:00) a.m. to seven o'clock (7:00) p.m. provided no beverage is sold or served after one o'clock (1:00) a.m., nor before six o'clock (6:00) a.m. The licensing board may fix an earlier closing time, at its discretion. The annual license fee for a Class S license shall be four hundred dollars ($400) to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500).

(ii) The license authorizes the holder to keep for sale and sell beverages, including beer in cans, at retail at the place described and to deliver them for consumption on the premises or place where sold, but only at tables or a lunch bar where food is served. It also authorizes the charging of a cover, minimum, or door charge. The amount of the cover, or minimum, or door charge is posted at the entrance of the establishments in a prominent place.

(iii) Any holder of a Class S license may file an application with the licensing board to open for business and serve or sell beverages until two o'clock (2:00) a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and the night before legal state holidays. The fee for such application shall be between two hundred dollars ($200) and one thousand dollars ($1,000). All requests for a two o'clock (2:00) a.m. license shall be advertised by the board of licenses in a newspaper of general circulation published in the city of Providence.

(iv) Subject to the provisions of the Providence zoning ordinance, a holder of a retailer's Class S license is allowed to erect signs advertising their business and products sold on the premises, including neon signs, and is allowed to light those signs during all lawful business hours, including Sundays and holidays.

(v) The holder of a Class S license may convert their establishment from a supper club to a nightclub between designated hours, upon approval by the board of licenses at the time of the original application. The applicant shall provide to the board the designated hours it will operate as a nightclub, and all other information as required by the board of licenses for approval of a Class N license. Upon approval of such application, the licensee shall adhere to all conditions required for a Class N license holder. Provided a Class S license holder has applied for and been approved for this additional nightclub format and a violation subsequently occurs, the board may choose to impose a penalty on the supper club operation or the nightclub operation, or both, as determined by the format in operation at the time of the violation.

History of Section. (P.L. 2016, ch. 384, § 3; P.L. 2016, ch. 402, § 3.)