Oceanside Municipal Code Ch. 26 Poolrooms and Shooting Galleries

(a) Poolroom or billiard room means a place where billiards or pool is played for charge, consisting of two (2) or more pool or billiard tables; provided, however, that this term shall not apply to any nonprofit society, fraternal club, labor or other organization having adopted bylaws and duly elected directors and members having exclusive use of the playing facilities for which use no charge is made.

(b) Shooting gallery means any establishment where any game of skill or chance which utilizes a gun, whether real or simulated, in combination with any target, movable or immovable.

(Ord. No. 86-36, § 1, 9-10-86)

It shall be unlawful for any person, or any servant or employee of the same to maintain or keep open in the city any public billiard room or poolroom, or any public shooting gallery, or any place of business where billiards or pool is played or a shooting gallery is kept, without first having obtained a license to keep and maintain the same in the manner provided in this chapter.

(Ord. Code, § 2221; Ord. No. 86-36, § 2, 9-10-86)

Any person desiring to keep or maintain any public billiard room or poolroom, or place where billiards or pool is played, or any public shooting gallery, may file in the office of the city clerk an application for a license to keep and maintain such place of business, stating in such application:

(a) The business desired to be licensed.

(b) The proposed location of such place of business, described by lot, block, street number, or other means sufficient to identify the particular place.

(c) The number of billiard and pool tables and shooting galleries to be kept.

(d) Declaring that the applicant will comply with the terms of this chapter.

(Ord. Code, § 2222)

The application shall be signed by the applicant, and accompanied by the amount of the license tax herein provided for one month, in money or by certified check payable to the city clerk; which sum of money or certified check shall be returned to the applicant in the event the license shall not be granted, otherwise shall be a payment of the first month's license tax.

(Ord. Code, § 2222.1)

If, in the opinion of the council, the applicant is a suitable person to maintain and keep the proposed business, and the premises are suitable premises for the same, then the council shall, by resolution, direct the clerk to issue the license.

(Ord. Code, § 2223; Ord. No. 65-13, § 1)

No person or employee shall keep open or operate any billiard hall or pool room or any shooting gallery between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. following on any day of the week. Any place of business wherein licensed coin-operated pool tables are maintained as amusement devices as an adjunct to another primary business is exempt from this provision unless otherwise regulated.

(Ord. Code § 2224; Ord. No. 69-41, § 1, 9-24-69)

No proprietor, manager or person in charge of any billiard room or poolroom or place of business where billiards or pool is played, shall admit to or permit to remain within such billiard room or poolroom or place of business where billiards or pool is played, any minor under the age of eighteen (18) years, unless such minor is accompanied by a parent or legally appointed guardian or unless such minor is a member of the Armed Forces on active duty.

No person shall represent himself to have reached the age of eighteen (18) years in order to obtain admittance to any billiard room or poolroom or place of business where billiards or pool is played or to be permitted to remain therein when such person in fact is under eighteen (18) years of age.

(Ord. Code, § 2227; Ord. No. 69-7, § 1)

The provisions of section 26.8 shall not apply to a family billiard room, subject to all of the following conditions:

(a) The applicant for a permit, or a permittee, shall apply in writing to the chief of police for permission to allow minors in such billiard room, and agree to comply with the following additional rules and regulations applicable to such billiard room:

(1) No owner, manager, proprietor or other person in charge of a family billiard room shall allow or permit any person under the age of sixteen (16) years to be in, remain in, enter or visit such place unless such minor is accompanied by a parent or legally appointed guardian.

(2) No alcoholic beverages of any kind shall be sold, consumed or possessed by any person on the premises of the billiard room or on any other premises having access (other than by means of a public street) to the premises of the billiard room.

(3) No gambling, betting or wagering of any kind shall be suffered, allowed or permitted on the premises of the billiard room.

(4) No profanity of any kind shall be used, suffered, allowed or permitted on the premises of the billiard room.

(5) The owners, managers and operators, and each of them, of the billiard room shall be strictly responsible for the enforcement of all rules and regulations and shall not permit any person violating any rule or regulation to remain in such billiard room and shall not permit any habitual violator to enter such billiard room.

(6) At least four (4) signs shall be posted and maintained at conspicuous places in and about the billiard room, printed in bold one-inch high letters placed on a contrasting background and setting forth the substance of the rules and regulations in this section.

(7) The family billiard room permitted by the provisions of this section shall not be connected with any other business nor shall any other business be permitted to be carried on, except that the family billiard room may have therein ordinary merchandise vending machines and coin-operated games of skill including pin ball machines.

(8) All family billiard premises in which the games of pool and billiards are played and at which minors are permitted to attend shall be on the street floor of the building in which they are housed and shall be arranged and adequately lighted so that a full view of the interior may be had from the adjoining sidewalk or adjoining public thoroughfare at all hours during which such establishment is open.

(b) The chief of police, after investigation and after determining that the premises of the billiard room are suitable for minors, may endorse the permit issued under this article as follows: "Minors allowed, subject to Oceanside Municipal Code, section 26.9," and thereafter, the provisions of section 26.8 shall not apply to the billiard room described in such permit.

(c) Whenever a permit has been endorsed as provided in subsection (b), the permit may be suspended or revoked for the violation of the rules and regulations set forth in this section.

(Ord. No. 69-7, § 2; Ord. No. 92-28, § 1, 12-16-92; Ord. No. 96-15, § 1, 11-20-96)