North Carolina § 18B-1000 - Definitions concerning establishments.

§ 18B-1000. Definitions concerning establishments.

The following requirements and definitions shall apply to this Chapter: Community theatre. - An establishment owned and operated by a bona fide nonprofit organization that is engaged solely in the business of sponsoring or presenting amateur or professional theatrical events to the public. A permit issued for a community theatre is valid only during regularly scheduled theatrical events sponsored by such nonprofit organization. Congressionally chartered veterans organizations. - An establishment that is organized as a federally chartered, nonprofit veterans organization, and is operated solely for patriotic or fraternal purposes. Convention center. - An establishment that meets either of the following requirements: A publicly owned or operated establishment that is engaged in the business of sponsoring or hosting conventions and similar large gatherings, including auditoriums, armories, civic centers, convention centers, and coliseums. A privately owned facility located in a city that has a population of at least 200,000 but not more than 250,000 by the 2000 federal census and is located in a county that has previously authorized the issuance of mixed beverage permits by referendum. To qualify as a convention center under this subdivision, the facility shall meet each of the following requirements: The facility shall be certified by the appropriate local official as being consistent with the city's redevelopment plan for the area in which the facility is located. The facility shall contain at least 7,500 square feet of floor space that is available for public use and shall be used exclusively for banquets, receptions, meetings, and similar gatherings. The facility's annual gross receipts from the sale of alcoholic beverages shall be less than fifty percent (50%) of the gross receipts paid to all providers at permitted functions for food, nonalcoholic beverages, alcoholic beverages, service, and facility usage fees (excluding receipts or charges for entertainment and ancillary services not directly related to providing food and beverage service). The person to whom a permit has been issued for a privately owned facility shall be required to maintain copies of all contracts and invoices for items supplied by providers for a period of three years from the date of the event. Cooking school. - An establishment substantially engaged in the business of operating a school in which cooking techniques are taught for a fee. Eating establishment. - An establishment engaged in the business of regularly and customarily selling food, primarily to be eaten on the premises. Eating establishments shall include businesses that are referred to as restaurants, cafeterias, or cafes, but that do not qualify under subdivision (6) [of this section]. Eating establishments shall also include lunchstands, grills, snack bars, fast-food businesses, and other establishments, such as drugstores, which have a lunch counter or other section where food is sold to be eaten on the premises. Food business. - An establishment engaged in the business of regularly and customarily selling food, primarily to be eaten off the premises. Food businesses shall include grocery stores, convenience stores, and other establishments, such as variety stores or drugstores, where food is regularly sold, and shall also include establishments engaged primarily in selling unfortified or fortified wine or both, for consumption off the premises. Hotel. - An establishment substantially engaged in the business of furnishing lodging. A hotel shall have a restaurant either on or closely associated with the premises. The restaurant and hotel need not be owned or operated by the same person. Multi-tenant establishment. - A building or structure, or multiple buildings and structures on the same property, or within the same planned development project that may be subject to a common declaration of restrictive covenants administered by a common property owners' association, and under common ownership, control or property owners' association governance, that contain or contains multiple businesses that sell food, goods, services, or a combination of food, goods, and services, and that include or are connected by common areas. For purposes of this Chapter, "common areas" shall include portions of a building or structure and outdoor areas that are used jointly by multiple businesses on a property or within a planned development project, whether such areas are under common ownership or are subject to cross-access easements for use by multiple businesses. A shopping mall is not a multi-tenant establishment if more than fifty percent (50%) of the shopping mall's common areas, measured in acreage or square footage, are enclosed and air-conditioned. Any outdoor common area not used as a parking field that is associated with a shopping mall shall be deemed appropriate for a Common Area Entertainment Permit as allowed in this Chapter. Private bar. - An establishment that is organized and operated as a for-profit entity and that is not open to the general public but is open only to the members of the organization and their bona fide guests for the purpose of allowing its members and their guests to socialize and engage in recreation. Private club. - An establishment that qualifies under Section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended, 26 U.S.C. § 501(c), and that has been in operation for a minimum of 12 months prior to application for an ABC permit. Qualified facility. - A facility that has any of the following permits: On-premises malt beverage. On-premises unfortified wine. On-premises fortified wine. Mixed beverages. Residential private club. - A private club that is located in a privately owned, primarily residential and recreational development. Restaurant. - An establishment substantially engaged in the business of preparing and serving meals. To qualify as a restaurant, an establishment's gross receipts from food and nonalcoholic beverages shall be not less than thirty percent (30%) of the total gross receipts from food, nonalcoholic beverages, and alcoholic beverages. A restaurant shall also have a kitchen and an inside dining area with seating for at least 36 people. If the restaurant is located on an 18-hole golf course, the premises shall include the parking lot and the playing area of the golf course, including the teeing areas, greens, fairways, roughs, hazards, and cart paths. Retail business. - An establishment engaged in any retail business, regardless of whether food is sold on the premises. Sports and entertainment venue. - Stadiums, ballparks, and other similar facilities with a permanently constructed seating capacity of 3,000 or more which are not located on the campus of a school, college, or university. Sports club. - An establishment that meets either of the following requirements: The establishment is substantially engaged in the business of providing equine boarding, training, and coaching services, and the establishment offers on-site dining, lodging, and meeting facilities and hosts horse trials and other events sanctioned or endorsed by the United States Equestrian Federation, Inc.; or The establishment is substantially engaged in the business of providing an 18-hole golf course, two or more tennis courts, or both. Recodified as subdivision (1a) by Session Laws 2019-177, s. 4.1. Wine producer. - A farming establishment of at least five acres committed to the production of grapes, berries, or other fruits for the manufacture of unfortified wine. A permit issued for a convention center shall be valid only for those parts of the building used for conventions, banquets, receptions, and other events, and only during scheduled activities. The sports club can either be open to the general public or to members and their guests. To qualify as a sports club, an establishment's gross receipts for club activities shall be greater than its gross receipts for alcoholic beverages. The premises of a sports club substantially engaged in the business of providing an 18-hole golf course shall include the parking lot and the playing area of the golf course, including the teeing areas, greens, fairways, roughs, hazards, and cart paths. This provision does not prohibit a sports club from operating a restaurant. Receipts for food shall be included in with the club activity fee. History (1905, c. 498, ss. 6-8; Rev., ss. 3526, 3534; C.S., s. 3371; 1937, c. 49, ss. 12, 16, 22; c. 411; 1955, c. 999; 1967, c. 222, ss. 1, 8; c. 1256, s. 3; 1969, c. 1018; 1971, c. 872, s. 1; 1973, c. 1226; 1977, c. 176, s. 1; 1981, c. 412, s. 2; 1981 (Reg. Sess., 1982), c. 1262, s. 15; 1983, c. 583, s. 1; c. 896, s. 5; 1987, c. 307, s. 1; c. 391, s. 1; 1993, c. 415, ss. 14, 15; 1993 (Reg. Sess., 1994), c. 579, s. 1; 1995, c. 466, s. 8; c. 509, s. 15; 2001-262, s. 7; 2001-487, s. 49(d); 2002-188, s. 1; 2003-135, s. 1; 2009-539, s. 4; 2013-392, s. 2; 2018-100, s. 4(a); 2019-13, s. 3; 2019-49, s. 5; 2019-177, s. 4.1; 2019-182, s. 19(a).) Editor's Note. - Session Laws 1983, c. 896, s. 5.1, provided: "Should the Supreme Court of North Carolina or a federal court having jurisdiction over North Carolina find and determine in any manner, whether on the merits or by denial of petition for discretionary review, that the General Assembly may not constitutionally allow 'exempt organizations' as defined herein to conduct bingo or raffles, while denying that privilege to all other persons, then this act and G.S. 14-292.1 are repealed in their entirety, and no person may conduct bingo or raffles under any circumstances not permitted by the gambling laws of North Carolina." The bracketed language in subdivision (2) was added at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Sessions Laws 2018-100, s. 8(a), is a severability clause. Session Laws 2019-13, s. 5, provides: "This act becomes effective June 1, 2019. If a final order by a court of competent jurisdiction finds that any portion of Sections 1 through 4 of this act is unconstitutional, or if the passage of Sections 1 through 4 of this act would cause the State to forfeit payments due under a compact entered into between the State and a federally recognized Indian tribe, Sections 1 through 4 of this act are void." Session Laws 2019-49, s. 5, effective June 26, 2019, added subdivision (4a) and Session Laws 2019-182, s. 19(a), effective September 1, 2019, added subdivision (4e). At the direction of the Revisor of Statutes the definitions were renumbered as (4e) and (4a), respectively, to maintain alphabetical order. Session Laws 2019-49, s. 10, made the amendment to this section by Session Laws 2019-49, s. 5, effective June 26, 2019, and applicable to new permits issued on or after that date, and further provided, in part: "Permits issued to private clubs as defined in G.S. 18B-1000(5) prior to the effective date of this act shall be grandfathered and may remain in effect and eligible for renewal as a private bar under G.S. 18B-1005(4a) or a private club under G.S. 18B-1005(5), as applicable, notwithstanding Section 5 of this act." Section 5 of Session Laws 2019-49 amended the definitions for "Private bar" and "Private club." Session Laws 2019-177, s. 4.1, effective July 26, 2019, recodified former subdivision (9) in order to put the definition of "Congressionally chartered veterans organizations" in alphabetical order. Former subdivisions (1a) and (1b) were redesignated as (1b) and (1c), respectively, at the direction of the Revisor of Statutes. Session Laws 2019-182, s. 28, is a severability clause. Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2009-539, s. 4, effective August 28, 2009, in subdivision (8), divided the former first sentence of the subdivision into the introductory language and subdivision (8)b by adding "that meets either of the following requirements:" at the end of the introductory language and adding "b. The establishment is" at the beginning of subdivision (8)b; and added subdivision (8)a. Session Laws 2013-392, s. 2, effective August 23, 2013, deleted "located within an area that has been designated as an Urban Redevelopment Area under Article 22 of Chapter 160A of the General Statutes, and shall be" following "The facility shall be" in subdivision (1a)b.1. Session Laws 2018-100, s. 4(a), effective June 26, 2018, added the last sentence in subdivision (6); added subdivision (7a); and added the penultimate sentence in subdivision (8). Session Laws 2019-13, s. 3, effective June 1, 2019, redesignated subdivision (5a) as (5b); and added a new subdivision (5a). Session Laws 2019-49, s. 5, effective June 26, 2019, added subdivision (4a), which was renumbered as (4e); and rewrote subdivision (5). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2019-182, s. 19(a), effective September 1, 2019, added subdivision (4e), which was renumbered as (4a). Legal Periodicals. - For article, "A History of Liquor-by-the-Drink Legislation in North Carolina," see 1 Campbell L. Rev. 61 (1979).