Martz's License
Martz's License
Opinion of the Court
Opinion by
The Act of May 13, 1887, P. L. 108, requires every applicant for a retail liquor license to set forth in his petition “ the particular place for which a license is desired.” In the appellant’s petition this was described as “ the premises at the northeast corner of Sixth and Court streets,” etc. The premises at the corner mentioned consist of a building owned by a corporation of which the appellant is a stockholder. On the second floor of this building is a large hall, which, according to the distinct finding of the court below, “is a place of amusement within the meaning of the Act of 1881,” P. L. 162. Whether or not this finding was correct depends upon the evidence given on the hearing, and as the evidence is not part of the record and could not be brought on the record, the decision of that question is not reviewable on appeal. We have not overlooked the preceding findings of fact, but these are not sufficiently definite to impair the effect of the general conclusion above stated.
But, it is argued, assuming that the hall is a place of amusement within the meaning of the act, this did not constitute an
We find no irregularity in the record proper. Nor, if we look into the statement of facts filed two days after the order was entered do we find that there was error of law or abuse of discretion in refusing a license for the particular place described in the petition.
The order is affirmed, and the appeal dismissed at the costs of the appellant.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Martz's License. Appeal of Joseph F. Martz
- Cited By
- 1 case
- Status
- Published
- Syllabus
- Liquor law — Place of amusement — Description of place — Part of building — Discretion of court. If a building contains a place of amusement within the meaning of the Act of 1881, P. L. 162, the premises as a whole cannot be licensed; and while the mere fact that there is a place of amusement in the building does not necessarily make the whole building a place of amusement within the meaning of the act, nor make it unlawful to grant a license for the sale of liquor in a certain part thereof if there be no communication of any kind between the two places and no possible way of going from one to the other without going into the public highway, it still remains within the sound discretion of the license court to grant or refuse the license and the exercise of such discretion will not be reviewed by the appellate court. The refusal of the license would seem to be a wise exercise of discretion where the description of the place for which the license is applied for more aptly describes the whole building than it does any particular part of it.