Section 20-3-1. Findings and Intent. The City Council finds and determines as follows:

The City Council finds and determines that the recent COVID-19 pandemic and resulting emergency orders continue to restrict food service establishments from operating freely in the City of Northglenn (the "City"), thereby increasing the demand for take-out meal services;

he City Council finds and determines that the restrictions from freely operating within the City have had severe financial impacts on all food service establishments within the City;

The City Council finds that while some restaurants may receive take-out orders directly, there are many third-party food delivery platforms and other services that operate through websites or mobile phone applications used by consumers to quickly and easily order pick-up and delivery meals from local restaurants;

The City Council finds that in most instances the third-party food delivery platforms and services, without the local restaurant's knowledge or consent, will purport to sell meals from the local restaurant to consumers, and sometimes charge exorbitant fees to the already struggling local restaurants during the time of and following the declared emergency that restricts on-premises dining; and

The City Council finds that the fees charged by a third-party food delivery platform should be immediately capped for the immediate preservation of health and safety and for the protection of public convenience and welfare while on-premises dining remains restricted to avoid further harm to food establishments in the City.

[Source: Ord. 1810, 2020; 1816, 2021]

Section 20-3-2. Definitions. As used in this Article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

Food establishment or retail food establishment means a retail food establishment, as defined by C.R.S. § 25-4-1602(14), that is located in the City.

Online order means an order placed by a customer through a platform provided by a third-party food delivery platform for delivery or pickup within the City.

Purchase price for purposes of this Article, means the final price of an online order of prepared food or beverages, excluding taxes, gratuities, or any other fees that may make up the total cost to the customer of an online order.

Telephone order means an order placed by a customer to a restaurant through a telephone call forwarded by a call system provided by a third-party food delivery platform for delivery or pickup within the City.

Third-party food delivery platform means any person, company, website, mobile application, or other internet service that offers or arranges for the sale of food and beverages prepared by, and the same-day delivery or same-day pickup of food and beverages from, retail food establishments located within the City.

[Source: Ord. 1810, 2020; 1816, 2021]

Section 20-3-3. Fee Restrictions.

A third-party food delivery platform shall not perform any service for or disclose any information about a retail food establishment without the retail food establishment's consent.

No person shall cause a third-party food delivery platform to charge a retail food establishment a commission fee for the use of the platform's services for delivery or pick-up that exceeds 15% of the purchase price per online order or telephone order; provided that this Section shall not limit the ability of any retail food establishment to choose to pay a higher commission or supplemental fee to access additional advertising or other products and services offered by any third-party food delivery platform.

No person shall cause a third-party food delivery platform to reduce the compensation rate paid to a delivery service driver or garnish gratuities in order to comply with subsection (b) hereof.

A third-party delivery food platform shall not charge any additional fee to a retail food establishment that it has not voluntarily agreed to pay.

At the time a final price is disclosed to a customer for the intended purchase and delivery of food from a retail food establishment through a third-party food delivery platform and before that transaction is completed by the customer, the third-party food delivery platform shall disclose to the customer, in plain language and in a conspicuous manner, any commission, fee, or any other monetary payment charged to the customer by the third-party food delivery platform.

After a transaction occurs for the purchase and delivery of food from a retail food establishment through a third-party food delivery platform, the third-party food delivery platform shall provide an electronic or printed receipt to the customer. The receipt shall disclose, in plain and simple language and in a conspicuous manner:

The menu price of the food;

Any sales or other tax applied to the transaction;

Any delivery charge or service fee, imposed on and collected from the customer by the third-party food delivery platform and by the covered food establishment, in addition to the menu price of the food;

Any tip that will be paid to the person delivering the food, and not to the third-party food delivery platform, that was added into the transaction when it occurred; and

Any commission associated with the transaction.

No third-party food delivery platform may charge any fee to a retail food establishment for a telephone order if a telephone call between such retail food establishment and a customer does not result in an actual transaction during such telephone call.

No third-party food delivery platform may charge any fee to a retail food establishment for an online order if the online order between such retail food establishment and a customer does not result in an actual transaction during such online order.

[Source: Ord. 1810, 2020; 1816, 2021]

Section 20-3-4. Violation and Penalty.

Failure to comply with the terms of this Article shall constitute a civil infraction. Any person who is found guilty of, or pleads guilty or nolo contendere to the commission of, the civil infraction shall be subject to a civil penalty as set forth in Article 1 of Chapter 1 of this Code.

For each day, or portion thereof, during which any violation continues, a person may be cited for a separate civil infraction. The penalties specified in this Section shall be cumulative and nothing shall be construed as either prohibiting or limited the City from pursuing other such remedies or penalties, including an action at law or equity.

[Source: Ord. 1810, 2020; 1816, 2021]

Section 20-3-5. Sunset. This Article 3 of Chapter 20 shall be repealed by operation of law following the expiration of thirty (30) consecutive calendar days of retail food establishments being authorized by the State of Colorado and the Tri-County Health Department to operate at 100% capacity.

[Source: Ord. 1810, 2020; 1816, 2021]