Agenda item

Members considered an application by Tokyo Industries (Yorkshire) Ltd. for a premises licence in respect of 5 St Helen’s Square, York YO1 8QN.

Full details of the matters considered, and the representations made at the meeting in respect of both applications are set out in Minute 54 above.

In respect of the proposed licence, the Sub-Committee had to determine whether the licence application demonstrated that the premises would not undermine the licensing objectives.  Having regard to the evidence and representations received, the Sub-Committee considered the steps which were available to them to take under Section 18(3) (a) of the Licensing Act 2003 as it considered necessary for the promotion of the Licensing Objectives:

Option 1:    Grant the licence in the terms applied for. This option was rejected

Option 2:    Grant the licence with modified/additional conditions imposed by the licensing committee. This option was approved.

Option 3:    Grant the licence to exclude any of the licensable activities to which the application relates and modify/add conditions accordingly.  This option was rejected.

Option 4:    Reject the application.  This option was rejected

Resolved:  That Option 2 be approved and the licence be granted with the following conditions and modified/additional conditions added to the licence:

1.  The premises shall operate predominantly as a hotel with ancillary restaurant and bar facilities. It shall not operate as a bar or nightclub or vertical drinking establishment and all licensable activities authorised by this licence and provided at the premises shall be ancillary to the main function of the premises as a hotel.

2.  A minimum number of 40 seats shall be provided for customers on the ground floor.

3.  The outside area shall be closed by 2200hrs daily

4.  The licence holder will operate a Challenge 25 Age Verification Policy at the premises.

5.  The only acceptable proof of age identification shall be a current Passport, photo card Driving Licence, Military ID card, or identification carrying the PASS logo (until other effective identification technology e.g. thumb print or pupil recognition, is adopted by the Premises Licence Holder).

6.  No adult entertainment shall take place at the premises.

7.  The sale of alcohol in all parts of the premises shall only be by waiter/waitress  service to seated customers, and there shall be no sales of alcohol over the bars directly to the customer.

8.  The outside area shall be closed by 2200hrs daily.

9.  The licence holder will operate a Challenge 25 Age Verification Policy at the premises.

10. The only acceptable proof of age identification shall be a current Passport, photo card Driving Licence, Military ID card, or identification carrying the PASS logo (until other effective identification technology e.g thumb print or pupil recognition, is adopted by the Premises Licence Holder).

11. A digital colour CCTV system will be installed to cover the premises and recorded coverage will include all areas (including outside areas) to which the public have access.

It will be maintained, working and recording at all times when the premises are open. The recordings should be of good evidential quality to be produced in Court or other such hearing. Copies of the recordings will be kept available for any Responsible Authority for 28 days.

Copies of the recordings shall be made available to any Responsible Authority within 48 hrs upon request.
Copies of the recordings will display the correct time and date of the recording.

It is the responsibility of the management to ensure that there are sufficient members of staff available during the hours of operation to be able to download evidence from the CCTV system at the request of the police or responsible authority.

12Door Supervisors shall be employed as follows: -

(a)On Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays leading into a bank holiday Monday there shall be a minimum number of 3 SIA door supervisors from 2000hrs until 30 minutes past closing time.

(b) On days when race meetings are held at York Racecourse (save for the family meeting held in September and the first meeting in May) a min of 1 SIA registered door staff shall be provided at the premises from 19:00 hours to the close of business.

The management of the premises will comply with any written, reasonable and justified request made by North Yorkshire Police regarding the provision of Door Supervisors should the need arise at other times.

When employed, door staff will wear high visibility arm bands.

13. Documented staff training will be given regarding staff’s obligation under the Licensing Act 2003 in respect of the:-

·        Retail sale of alcohol

·        -Age verification policy

·        Conditions attached to the Premises Licence

·        Permitted Licensable activities

·        Licensing objectives and

·        Opening Times of the venue.

Such records shall be kept for a minimum of one year and will be made available immediately upon request from any Responsible Authority.

14.A Refusals Register and Incident Report Register will be kept. Such documents will record incidents of staff refusals of alcohol sales to under-age or drunk people as well as incidents of any anti-social behaviour and ejections from the premises.

Such records shall be kept for at least one year. (For the avoidance of doubt, the one year period relates to each respective entry in the log book and runs from the date of that particular entry). They will be made available immediately upon request from any Responsible Authority.

15.The sale of alcohol (other than to residents of the hotel and their bona fide guests) shall cease 30 minutes before close of business on any given day to allow for ‘drinking up’ time.

16.All off sales shall be in sealed containers (with the exception of the pavement café licence area).

17.No drinks or drinking glasses shall be taken out of the licensed premises or (licensed area) onto the pavement or highway with the exception of any pavement café licence area.

18.The outside area will be regularly cleared and kept tidy.

19.Clear and legible notices shall be displayed at all exits requesting patrons to respect the needs of local residents and to leave the premises and area quietly.

20.No licensable activities shall take place at the premises until a documented smoking policy has been submitted to and agreed in writing with the Council. The policy shall thereafter be implemented as approved.

21.A zero tolerance towards illegal drugs will be enforced at all times.

22.All instances of crime and disorder will be reported to the police and will be kept in an incident log book.

23.The Premises will comply take part in and comply with any crime reduction initiatives, when requested to do so by a responsible authority.

24.The Premises Licence Holder will comply with any instructions issued by the Police regarding closure on race days and/or other sporting events.

25.The Premises Licence Holder shall ensure so far as possible that when an exclusion order is made, the person subject to the order is denied access to the premise.

26.No noise shall emanate from the premises that gives rise to a nuisance.

27.A tamper-proof noise-limiting device shall be fitted to the sound system within the premises and all music played at the premises must pass through this noise limiting device at a level first agreed by the Council’s Public Protection section. The device shall not be altered or modified without prior agreement with the Council’s Public Protection section.  The device must be of a type and in a location approved in writing by the Council’s Public Protection section.

28.Speakers shall not be located /operated on any external area.

29.No regulated entertainment shall take in any outside area.

30.No licensable activities shall take place at the premises until a written Noise Management Plan has been submitted to and approved in writing by the by City of York Council.  The Noise Management Plan will include a procedure for investigating noise complaints received from the premises and a map identifying the sound check locations following any such complaint.  The Premises Licence Holder shall ensure compliance with all aspects of the approved Noise Management Plan.

31. No licensable activities shall take place at the premises until a documented dispersal policy has been submitted to and approved in writing by City of York Council. The Premises Licence Holder shall ensure compliance with all aspects of the approved dispersal policy. 

32. The only licensable activity that is authorised to take place in the hotel bedrooms is the sale of alcohol by retail through a mini bar or room service. No other licensable activity will take place in the hotel bedrooms.

33. With the exception of hotel residents and their bona fide guests, no alcohol shall be supplied or consumed on the ground floor of the premises between 2400rs and 0800hrs.

34. The supply of alcohol on the basement, first and second floors of the premises shall be to hotel residents and their bona fide guests only.

Reasons:  (i)       The Sub-Committee must promote the licensing objectives and must have regard to the Guidance issued under section182 of the Licensing Act 2003 and the Council’s own Statement of Licensing Policy.

                  (ii)      The premises are located within an area where a Cumulative Impact Policy applies. It is within the red zone of this area. The Statement of Licensing Policy sets out that this special policy will create a rebuttable presumption that applications for new premises licences that are likely to add to the existing cumulative impact will normally be refused following receipt of representations, unless the applicant can demonstrate why the operation of the premises involved will not add to the impact of premises with this zone.

                  (iii)      The Sub-Committee noted that that the premises being in the CIA did not act as an absolute prohibition on granting new licences within that area. Each application must be considered on its own merit and it is possible for an applicant to rebut the above presumption if they can demonstrate that their application for a premises licence would not add to the cumulative impact already being experienced in the CIA. Representations had been received from North Yorkshire Police, Public Protection and the Licensing Authority.

                  (iv)     The Sub-Committee considered that the onus lay upon the Applicant  (to the civil standard) to evidence to the Sub-Committee that the operation of the premises, if licensed, would not add to the cumulative effect of having more licensed premises in the CIZ, with regard to the licensing objectives.

                  (v)      The Sub-Committee accepted and gave weight to concerns by the Police, Public Protection and the Licensing Authority as to the potential for alcohol related noise disturbance and crime and disorder that could arise from a large capacity venue in this location if a premises licence is granted. They also noted that the Applicant and the Police had each proposed a number of conditions to address these issues.

                  (vi)     The Sub-Committee noted the Police representations that they do not object to the application if the conditions proposed by the Police are attached to the licence, the Police being content that the premises could with the imposition the conditions proposed by the Police operate without adding to the cumulative impact.  They gave weight to the Police representation in in accordance with paragraph 9.12 of the statutory guidance.

                  (vii)    The Sub-Committee noted concerns from Public Protection in particular that the operation of a premises licence would be likely to cause significant noise nuisance and disturbance to nearby residents and  Public Protection’s concerns as to whether this impact could be adequately mitigated by the imposition of conditions in advance of planning and listed building consent.

                  (viii)    The Sub-Committee also noted the Licensing Authority’s objection to the application.

                  (ix)     The Sub-Committee noted that the Applicant had amended the application to scale back the licensable activities, area and timings proposed.  It noted the proposed style of venue as an upmarket boutique hotel, with restaurant facilities in keeping with the design and price point of the hotel rooms, and the other examples of the Applicant’s premises that the Police confirmed had operated without concern.

                  (x)      The Sub-Committee noted the concerns of the Responsible Authorities but felt that on balance, it had received sufficient assurances and evidence from the Applicant in order to have a high level of confidence that the premises would be operated responsibly and that, with the imposition of suitable amended and additional conditions (including conditions to ensure that it could not operate as a bar or nightclub), it was unlikely that noise disturbance to local nearby residents or any significant additional cumulative impact would be caused.

                  (xi)     Therefore it concluded that that the presumption against granting a licence for a new premises situated in the CIA was rebutted in this particular case and was satisfied that all four licensing objectives would be met in granting the application with the mandatory and the above conditions.

                  (xii)    The Sub-Committee therefore agreed to grant the licence with the additional conditions referred to above which were appropriate and proportionate in the circumstances to promote the licensing objectives.