§ 5-24-1 - Licensing and regulatory power of towns and cities. - Rhode Island Statutes

SECTION 5-24-1

   § 5-24-1  Licensing and regulatory power oftowns and cities. – (a) Any town or city council has the power to regulate, including the settingof hours of operation, the keeping of taverns, victualing houses, cookshops,oyster houses, and oyster cellars in the town or city, by granting licenses forthose activities, upon any compensation for the benefit of the town or citythat they see fit to impose, or by refusing to grant the licenses. Except asprovided in subsection (b) of this section, all licenses issued pursuant tothis section entitle the license holder to operate continuously after sixo'clock (6:00) A.M. but not after two o'clock (2:00) A.M.

   (b) Upon application by any holder of a license issuedpursuant to this section to the city or town council issuing that license andupon a showing of public convenience and necessity after a public hearingbefore that city or town council after having given notice by publication oncea week for three (3) consecutive weeks in a daily or weekly newspaper publishedand circulated in the county in which the city or town issuing the license islocated, the council may grant the application for additional operational hoursbetween two o'clock (2:00) A.M. and six o'clock (6:00) A.M.

   (c) For the purposes of this chapter a "victualing house" isa business where food is prepared and/or consumed on the premises.