Chapter 0323 - 492R - S Ver of HB2596

Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Arizona:

Section 1. Section 4-207, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE4-207. Restrictions on licensing premises near school or church buildings; definitions

A. A retailer's license shall not be issued for any premises which are, at the time the license application is received by the director, within three hundred horizontal feet of a church, within three hundred horizontal feet of a public or private school building with kindergarten programs or any of grades one through twelve or within three hundred horizontal feet of a fenced recreational area adjacent to such school building. This section does not prohibit the renewal of a valid license issued pursuant to this title if, on the date that the original application for the license is filed, the premises were not within three hundred horizontal feet of a church, within three hundred horizontal feet of a public or private school building with kindergarten programs or any of grades one through twelve or within three hundred horizontal feet of a fenced recreational area adjacent to such school building.

B. Subsection A of this section does not apply to a:

1. Restaurant issued a license pursuant to section 4‑205.02.

2. Special event license issued pursuant to section 4‑203.02.

3. Hotel-motel issued a license pursuant to section 4‑205.01.

4. Government license issued pursuant to section 4‑205.03.

5. Fenced playing area of a golf course issued a license pursuant to this article.

C. Notwithstanding subsection A of this section:

1. A spirituous liquor license which is validly issued and which is, on the date an application for a transfer is filed, within three hundred horizontal feet of a church, within three hundred horizontal feet of a public or private school building with kindergarten programs or any of grades one through twelve or within three hundred horizontal feet of a fenced recreational area adjacent to such school building may be transferred person to person pursuant to sections 4‑201, 4‑202 and 4‑203 and remains in full force until the license is terminated in any manner, unless renewed pursuant to section 4‑209, subsection A.

2. A person may be issued a spirituous liquor license pursuant to sections 4‑201, 4‑202 and 4‑203 of the same class for premises which have a nontransferable spirituous liquor license validly issued if the premises are, on the date an application for such license is filed, within three hundred horizontal feet of a church, within three hundred horizontal feet of a public or private school building with kindergarten programs or any of grades one through twelve or within three hundred horizontal feet of a fenced recreational area adjacent to such school building and the license remains in full force until the license is terminated in any manner, unless renewed pursuant to section 4‑209, subsection A.

3. A person may be issued a liquor store license pursuant to sections 4‑201, 4‑202, 4‑203 and 4‑206.01 for premises which have a beer and wine store license validly issued if the premises, on the date an application for such license is filed, are within three hundred horizontal feet of a church, within three hundred horizontal feet of a public or private school building with kindergarten programs or any of grades one through twelve or within three hundred horizontal feet of a fenced recreational area adjacent to such school building and the license remains in full force until the license is terminated in any manner, unless renewed pursuant to section 4‑209, subsection A.

4. The governing body of a city or town, on a case‑by‑case basis, may approve an exemption from the distance restrictions prescribed in this section for a church or charter school that is located in an area that is designated an entertainment district by the governing body of that city or town. A city or town with a population of at least five hundred thousand persons may designate no more than three entertainment districts within the boundaries of the city or town pursuant to this paragraph. A city or town with a population of at least two hundred thousand persons but less than five hundred thousand persons may designate no more than two entertainment districts within the boundaries of the city or town pursuant to this paragraph. A city or town with a population of less than two hundred thousand persons may designate no more than one entertainment district within the boundaries of the city or town pursuant to this paragraph.

D. For the purposes of this section:

1. "Church" means a building which is erected or converted for use as a church, where services are regularly convened, which is used primarily for religious worship and schooling and which a reasonable person would conclude is a church by reason of design, signs or architectural or other features.

2. "Entertainment district" means a specific contiguous area that is designated an entertainment district by a resolution adopted by the governing body of a city or town, that consists of no more than one square mile, that is no less than one-eighth of a mile in width and that contains a significant number of entertainment, artistic and cultural venues, including music halls, concert facilities, theaters, arenas, stadiums, museums, studios, galleries, restaurants, bars and other related facilities. END_STATUTE

Sec. 2. Section 41-1493, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended to read:

START_STATUTE41-1493. Definitions

In this article, unless the context otherwise requires:

1. "Demonstrates" means meets the burdens of going forward with the evidence and of persuasion.

2. "Exercise of religion" means the ability to act or refusal to act in a manner substantially motivated by a religious belief, whether or not the exercise is compulsory or central to a larger system of religious belief.

3. "Government" includes this state and any agency or political subdivision of this state.

4. "Nonreligious assembly or institution" includes all membership organizations, theaters, cultural centers, dance halls, fraternal orders, amphitheaters and places of public assembly regardless of size that a government or political subdivision allows to meet in a zoning district by code or ordinance or by practice.

5. "Person" includes a religious assembly or institution.

4. 6. "Political subdivision" includes any county, city, including a charter city, town, school district, municipal corporation or special district, any board, commission or agency of a county, city, including a charter city, town, school district, municipal corporation or special district or any other local public agency.

7. "Religion‑neutral zoning standards":

(a) Means numerically definable standards such as maximum occupancy codes, height restrictions, setbacks, fire codes, parking space requirements, sewer capacity limitations and traffic congestion limitations.

(b) Does not include:

(i) Synergy with uses that a government holds as more desirable.

(ii) The ability to raise tax revenues.

8. "Suitable alternate property" means a financially feasible property considering the person's revenue sources and other financial obligations with respect to the person's exercise of religion and with relation to spending that is in the same zoning district or in a contiguous area that the person finds acceptable for conducting the person's religious mission and that is large enough to fully accommodate the current and projected seating capacity requirements of the person in a manner that the person deems suitable for the person's religious mission.

9. "Unreasonable burden" means that a person is prevented from using the person's property in a manner that the person finds satisfactory to fulfill the person's religious mission. END_STATUTE

Sec. 3. Title 41, chapter 9, article 9, Arizona Revised Statutes, is amended by adding section 41-1493.03, to read:

START_STATUTE41-1493.03. Free exercise of religion; land use regulation

A. Government shall not impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that imposes an unreasonable burden on a person's exercise of religion, regardless of a compelling governmental interest, unless the government demonstrates one of the following:

1. That the person's exercise of religion at a particular location violates religion‑neutral zoning standards enacted into the government's laws at the time of the person's application for a permit.

2. That the person's exercise of religion at a particular location would be hazardous due to toxic uses in adjacent properties.

3. The existence of a suitable alternate property the person could use for the exercise of religion.

B. Government shall not impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that treats a religious assembly or institution on less than equal terms with a nonreligious assembly or institution, regardless of a compelling governmental interest.

C. Government shall not impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that discriminates against an assembly or institution on the basis of religion, regardless of a compelling governmental interest.

D. Government shall not impose or implement a land use regulation in a manner that completely excludes a religious assembly or institution from a jurisdiction or unreasonably limits religious assemblies, institutions or structures within a jurisdiction, regardless of a compelling governmental interest. END_STATUTE