Opinion
No. 73-034
Decided October 24, 1973.
Protesting the granting of a package liquor license, plaintiffs sought review in the district court. From District's dismissal of their petition, plaintiffs appealed.
Affirmed
1. INTOXICATING LIQUORS — Date of Written Decision — Commences — Period for Appeal — Petition Filed — Untimely — Properly Dismissed. It is the date of a city council's written decision, endorsed upon the application form for a liquor license, and not the date on which applicants received the letter of notification, which commences the statutory thirty-day period within which to appeal such decision; thus, where written decision of city council was issued March 8, a petition for review filed April 12 was properly dismissed.
Appeal from the District Court of Gunnison County, Honorable George V. Kempf, Judge.
Klingsmith and Russell, Harrison F. Russell, for plaintiffs-appellants.
Seraphine, Bratton and Alexander, Charles Alexander, for defendants-appellees.
Plaintiffs, protesting the granting of a package liquor license, appeal from a district court order dismissing their petition for review. The petition was dismissed for failure to file it within thirty days of the city council's decision approving the application for liquor license, as required by 1967 Perm. Supp., C.R.S. 1963, 75-2-9(1). That provision mandates that:
"Any person applying to the courts for a review of any licensing authority's decision shall apply for review within thirty days after the date of decision . . . . "
The decision of the local licensing authority must be in writing and rendered within thirty days after the public hearing, and a copy must be sent by certified mail to the applicant. C.R.S. 1963, 75-2-42(3).
[1] Plaintiffs contend that the only written decision rendered by the city council was a letter written to the applicants on March 15, 1972, and that therefore plaintiffs' petition, filed on April 12, 1972, was within the thirty day period. The district court found that a written decision was issued on March 8, 1972, at the conclusion of the public hearing, and that this was more than thirty days prior to the date on which plaintiffs filed their petition for review. This finding is supported by the record.
A public hearing on the application was held on March 8, 1972, and the application was approved by voice vote. Following the hearing, the council entered its written decision in the form of a statement of approval upon the license application form. This statement is signed by the mayor and attested by the city clerk. It is the date of this written decision, endorsed upon the application form, and not the date on which applicants received the letter of notification, which commences the thirty day period within which to appeal the decision.
Judgment affirmed.
CHIEF JUDGE SILVERSTEIN and JUDGE ENOCH concur.