Protection of Historic Taverns and Public Houses Act, 1751

Protection of Historic Taverns and Public Houses Act, 1751

Long title	An Act to establish a Federal Register of Historic Hospitality Establishments; to provide heritage protections for taverns, inns, and public houses of demonstrated historical significance; to restrict demolition and conversion of registered establishments; to create a right of first refusal for community acquisition; among other purposes.
Bill Number	FA-1751-0063
Introduced by	Deputy Henri Beausoleil (DSP)
Session of Cortes Federales	12th Cortes Federales
Extent	Entire Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie
Dates
Bill Status	In Committee
Date introduced	8.VII.1751 AN
Last updated	1751 AN
Other legislation
Related legislation	Federal Heritage Register Act, 1712

The Protection of Historic Taverns and Public Houses Act, 1751 (Alexandrian: Loi sur la protection des tavernes historiques et des maisons publiques; Martino: Ley de Proteccion de Tabernas Historicas y Casas Publicas; Wechua: Aqha Wasi Waqaychay Kamachiy) is a private member's bill introduced in the Federal Assembly on 8.VII.1751 AN by Deputy Henri Beausoleil of South Lyrica, a member of the Democratic Socialist Party. The bill would establish a Federal Register of Historic Hospitality Establishments and grant heritage protections to taverns, inns, and public houses that have operated continuously for seventy-five years or more, restricting their demolition or conversion to other uses.

The bill was prompted by the proposed demolition of Le Vieux Comptoir, a tavern in Lausanne that had operated continuously since approximately 1565 AN. Its introduction attracted attention disproportionate to its legislative prospects, generating more public correspondence to the Federal Assembly in its first week than any other bill submitted during the 12th Cortes.

Background

Le Vieux Comptoir was a tavern located in the Old Quarter of Lausanne, South Lyrica. The establishment had operated continuously since approximately 1565 AN, first as a coaching inn and later as a public house serving the surrounding neighborhood. It was among the oldest continuously operating commercial establishments in South Lyrica, operating when Lyrica was Stormark as an "Alexandrian bar & inn" where Alexandrian expats would often congregate. The tavern had passed through several owners over its history. The most recent proprietor was Madeleine Fournier, who ran the establishment for 41 years until her death on 22.II.1751 AN at the age of 83. Fournier had no children and left the property to her nephew and two nieces, none of whom had an interest in continuing the business. On 15.IV.1751 AN, the heirs sold the building and its associated liquor license to Groupe Meridional SA, a property development firm based in Benavides, for NAX€2.8 million. On 3.V.1751 AN, Groupe Meridional filed plans with the Lausanne Municipal Planning Office to demolish the building and construct a seven-story residential tower containing 34 luxury apartments. The planning application described the existing structure as "a two-story timber-frame building of no architectural distinction, in poor repair, with no heritage listing."

Public reaction

The demolition announcement produced a local backlash that surprised both the developer and Lausanne's municipal government. Within two weeks of the planning application, a petition organized by the Comite pour la Sauvegarde du Vieux Comptoir (Committee for the Preservation of Le Vieux Comptoir) gathered 14,000 signatures in a city of 320,000. The campaign's appeal extended well beyond the tavern's immediate neighborhood. Le Vieux Comptoir had served as an informal meeting place for South Lyrican writers and artists since at least the 1680s. The poet Claude Villareal reportedly wrote portions of his Sonnets du Rivage at a corner table in the 1690s. The Lyrican literary journal Encre et Sel held its monthly editorial meetings in the tavern's back room from 1704 AN until Fournier's death. Deputy Beausoleil, himself a retired professor of comparative literature at the University of Lausanne, was a regular patron for over thirty years.

The campaign received national press coverage after NBC Newsfeed broadcast a segment featuring interviews with elderly Lausanne residents who had patronized the tavern for decades. A retired dockworker named Georges Masson, aged 91, told the camera that he had drunk his first beer at Le Vieux Comptoir in 1677 AN and had visited every week since, except for a period during the early 1690s when he was away at sea. The segment was shared widely and brought national attention to the dispute.

Groupe Meridional's managing director, Patrice Delacroix, dismissed the campaign as "sentimentality dressed up as public interest" and noted that the building had no formal heritage listing under the Federal Heritage Register Act, 1712 or any regional heritage scheme. The company's position was legally correct: the building had never been listed, and the existing heritage framework did not cover commercial establishments on the basis of continuous use alone. Under existing law, only buildings of assessed architectural or historical merit could be listed, and the tavern's timber-frame structure, while old, had been substantially altered over the centuries and did not meet the criteria applied by the South Lyrican Regional Heritage Board.

Legislative response

Beausoleil announced his intention to introduce legislation on 18.VI.1751 AN at a rally outside the tavern attended by approximately 800 people. He told the crowd that "a nation that cannot protect its own gathering places has forgotten what it is gathering for." The remark was widely quoted and became the unofficial slogan of the campaign.

The bill was co-sponsored by eleven deputies from four parties: six from the DSP, two from the Federal Consensus Party, two from the Wakara People's Party, and one from the Federal Humanist Party. The FHP co-sponsor, Deputy Lucien Archambault of Alduria, was understood to have signed on after discovering that a similar threat faced a 120-year-old brasserie in Punta Santiago where he regularly hosted constituency dinners.

Key provisions

The bill creates a Federal Register of Historic Hospitality Establishments, to be maintained by the Department of Education, Sports, and Culture. Any tavern, inn, public house, or similar hospitality establishment that has operated continuously for seventy-five years or more at the same location is eligible for registration.

Once registered, an establishment may not be demolished, structurally altered beyond routine maintenance, or converted to a non-hospitality use without a Heritage Conversion License issued by the relevant regional government. The regional government must consider the establishment's historical and cultural significance, community impact, and the availability of alternative premises before issuing such a license. A public consultation period of ninety days is required before any license can be granted.

The bill also creates a right of first refusal. When a registered establishment is offered for sale, the relevant municipal government has sixty days to match the purchase price and acquire the property for continued operation as a hospitality establishment, either directly or through a community trust.

Owners of registered establishments may apply for grants from a new Historic Hospitality Preservation Fund, capitalized at NAX€5 million annually, to cover the cost of structural repairs and maintenance necessary to keep the establishment operational.

Legislative progress

Legislative progress of the Protection of Historic Taverns and Public Houses Act, 1751

Stage	Date	Chamber	Action	Votes (Y-N-A)	Details
1	8.VII.1751 AN	Federal Assembly	Introduction	-	Introduced by Henri Beausoleil with 11 co-sponsors
2	15.VII.1751 AN	Federal Assembly	Referred to Committee	-	Committee on Culture, Heritage, and Education

Public interest

The bill generated a volume of public correspondence to the Federal Assembly that committee staff described as unusual for a private member's bill. In the first week after introduction, 4,200 letters and electronic messages were received, more than any other piece of legislation introduced during the 12th Cortes over the same period. The majority expressed support, though a substantial minority objected to what they characterized as government interference in private property transactions.

Several newspapers published editorials on the subject. The Aldurian called the bill "charmingly impractical but not without a point," noting that Nouvelle Alexandrie's existing heritage framework was designed primarily for buildings of architectural merit and had no mechanism for protecting structures whose significance was social rather than aesthetic. The Lausanne Business Weekly opposed the bill editorially but conceded that the Le Vieux Comptoir case had exposed a "genuine gap in the law."

Deputy Beausoleil's floor speech introducing the bill ran to 47 minutes, making it the longest introduction speech of the 12th Cortes. He devoted approximately twenty minutes to the history of Le Vieux Comptoir, including a reading of three passages from Villareal's Sonnets du Rivage that he argued had been composed on the premises. The Speaker twice reminded him of time limits. Beausoleil later told a reporter that the speech "could have been longer" but that he had "cut the section on medieval brewing techniques out of deference to my colleagues' patience."

Bill text

PROTECTION OF HISTORIC TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HOUSES ACT, 1751

THE READING OF
A
BILL
TO
Establish a Federal Register of Historic Hospitality Establishments; to provide heritage protections for taverns, inns, and public houses of demonstrated historical significance; to restrict demolition and conversion of registered establishments; to create a right of first refusal for community acquisition; among other purposes.

PROTECTION OF HISTORIC TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HOUSES ACT, 1751

Presented by Henri Beausoleil, Deputy for South Lyrica
Ordered, by the Cortes Federales of Nouvelle Alexandrie,
to be Printed, 8.VII.1751 AN.

BE IT ENACTED by the King's Most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Cortes Federales, in this present session assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:-

PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS

Article 1: Citation.

1. This Act may be cited as the "Protection of Historic Taverns and Public Houses Act, 1751".

Article 2: Definitions.

1. For the purposes of this Act:
   1. "hospitality establishment" means any premises licensed for the sale and on-site consumption of food or beverages, including but not limited to taverns, inns, public houses, brasseries, cantinas, chicherias, and similar establishments;
   2. "continuous operation" means the regular conduct of hospitality business at the same premises, allowing for reasonable interruptions not exceeding twenty-four (24) consecutive months caused by renovation, natural disaster, armed conflict, or public health emergency;
   3. "qualifying period" means a period of continuous operation of not less than seventy-five (75) years;
   4. "Register" means the Federal Register of Historic Hospitality Establishments created under Article 4 of this Act;
   5. "registered establishment" means a hospitality establishment entered on the Register;
   6. "Heritage Conversion License" means the license required under Article 7 of this Act for the demolition, structural alteration, or change of use of a registered establishment;
   7. "Department" means the Department of Education, Sports, and Culture;
   8. "relevant regional government" means the government of the Region in which a hospitality establishment is located.

Article 3: Purpose.

1. The purposes of this Act are:
   1. to recognize the cultural, social, and historical value of long-established hospitality establishments to the communities they serve;
   2. to establish a mechanism for the identification and registration of hospitality establishments of demonstrated historical significance;
   3. to provide protections against the demolition or conversion of registered establishments without due consideration of their heritage value and community function;
   4. to empower municipal governments to acquire registered establishments threatened with closure for continued community use.

PART II
FEDERAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC HOSPITALITY ESTABLISHMENTS

Article 4: Establishment of the Register.

1. The Department shall create and maintain a Federal Register of Historic Hospitality Establishments.
2. The Register shall be a public document, accessible without charge through the Department's offices and published in electronic form on the Department's official information service.
3. The Department shall appoint a Registrar of Historic Hospitality Establishments, who shall be responsible for the day-to-day administration of the Register.

Article 5: Eligibility and registration.

1. A hospitality establishment is eligible for entry on the Register if it:
   1. has been in continuous operation at the same premises for the qualifying period;
   2. holds, or at the time of application held, a valid license for the sale and on-site consumption of food or beverages issued by the relevant municipal or regional authority.
2. An application for registration may be made by:
   1. the current owner or operator of the establishment;
   2. the relevant municipal government;
   3. a petition signed by not fewer than five hundred (500) residents of the municipality in which the establishment is located;
   4. the Department, acting on its own initiative.
3. Upon receipt of an application, the Registrar shall cause an investigation to be conducted into the history and continuous operation of the establishment. The Registrar may require the applicant and the owner of the premises to provide such documents, records, and testimony as are reasonably necessary to verify the claim of continuous operation.
4. If the Registrar is satisfied that the establishment meets the eligibility criteria, the establishment shall be entered on the Register. The Registrar shall notify the owner of the premises, the operator of the establishment, and the relevant municipal government of the registration within fourteen (14) days.
5. An owner or operator who disputes a registration may appeal to the Department within sixty (60) days of notification. The Department shall appoint an independent assessor to determine the appeal, whose decision shall be final.

Article 6: Criteria for assessing continuous operation.

1. In determining whether a hospitality establishment has been in continuous operation for the qualifying period, the Registrar shall consider:
   1. municipal licensing records, tax records, and commercial registers;
   2. property deeds, lease agreements, and title records;
   3. published references in newspapers, directories, guidebooks, and other printed or archival sources;
   4. oral testimony, where corroborated by at least one documentary source;
   5. physical evidence, including dated architectural features, signage, and fixtures.
2. The Registrar shall apply a balance-of-probabilities standard. It is not necessary to demonstrate continuous operation for every year of the qualifying period, provided that the overall pattern of evidence supports the claim.

PART III
PROTECTIONS FOR REGISTERED ESTABLISHMENTS

Article 7: Restriction on demolition and change of use.

1. No person shall:
   1. demolish, in whole or in part, a building containing a registered establishment;
   2. carry out structural alterations to a building containing a registered establishment that would render the premises unfit for continued hospitality use;
   3. convert the premises of a registered establishment to a use other than hospitality use;
2. without first obtaining a Heritage Conversion License from the relevant regional government.
3. A Heritage Conversion License shall not be granted unless the regional government is satisfied that:
   1. the continued operation of the establishment as a hospitality business is not economically viable, as demonstrated by audited financial records covering at least the three (3) most recent years of operation;
   2. reasonable efforts have been made to find a buyer or operator willing to continue the hospitality use;
   3. the right of first refusal established under Article 8 has been exhausted;
   4. the proposed alternative use serves a public interest that outweighs the heritage and community value of the establishment.
4. Before granting a Heritage Conversion License, the regional government shall:
   1. publish notice of the application in at least one newspaper of general circulation in the municipality and on the regional government's official information service;
   2. allow a public consultation period of not less than ninety (90) days from the date of publication;
   3. consider all representations received during the consultation period.
5. Any person aggrieved by the grant or refusal of a Heritage Conversion License may appeal to the courts of the relevant Region within sixty (60) days.

Article 8: Right of first refusal.

1. When a registered establishment, or the building containing it, is offered for sale, the owner shall give written notice to the relevant municipal government of the intention to sell, stating the proposed sale price and terms.
2. The municipal government shall have sixty (60) days from receipt of notice to exercise a right of first refusal by offering to purchase the property at the stated price and on the stated terms.
3. The municipal government may exercise this right for the purpose of:
   1. continuing the operation of the establishment directly;
   2. transferring the establishment to a community trust, cooperative, or other body established for the purpose of operating the establishment for community benefit.
4. If the municipal government does not exercise the right of first refusal within sixty (60) days, the owner may proceed with the sale, but the buyer shall be bound by all obligations arising from registration under this Act.
5. Any sale completed in violation of this Article is voidable at the instance of the municipal government.

PART IV
HISTORIC HOSPITALITY PRESERVATION FUND

Article 9: Establishment of the Fund.

1. There is hereby established a Historic Hospitality Preservation Fund (the "Fund"), to be administered by the Department.
2. The Fund shall be capitalized by an annual appropriation of not less than NAX€5 million from the general revenues of the Federation.
3. The Department may accept donations, bequests, and contributions to the Fund from any lawful source.

Article 10: Grants from the Fund.

1. The owner or operator of a registered establishment may apply to the Department for a grant from the Fund to cover the cost of:
   1. structural repairs necessary to maintain the building in a safe and habitable condition;
   2. restoration of historic features, fixtures, or fittings;
   3. compliance with fire safety, sanitation, and accessibility requirements imposed by law.
2. The maximum grant for any single establishment shall not exceed NAX€250,000 in any five-year period.
3. The Department shall publish guidelines for the assessment of grant applications. In assessing applications, the Department shall give priority to establishments where the need for repair is most urgent and the financial resources of the owner or operator are most limited.
4. A grant under this Article does not relieve the owner of any obligation to maintain the premises in accordance with applicable building and safety regulations.

PART V
OFFENCES AND PENALTIES

Article 11: Offences.

1. A person commits an offence who:
   1. demolishes, structurally alters, or converts a registered establishment without a Heritage Conversion License, in contravention of Article 7;
   2. sells a registered establishment or the building containing it without giving the notice required by Article 8;
   3. knowingly provides false or misleading information to the Registrar in connection with an application for registration or to the regional government in connection with an application for a Heritage Conversion License.
2. A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1)(a) is liable to a fine not exceeding NAX€500,000.
3. A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1)(b) is liable to a fine not exceeding NAX€100,000.
4. A person convicted of an offence under subsection (1)(c) is liable to a fine not exceeding NAX€50,000.
5. Where an offence under this Article is committed by a body corporate, every director or officer of the body corporate who knowingly authorized or permitted the offence is also guilty of an offence and liable to the same penalty.

PART VI
CLOSING PROVISIONS

Article 12: Transitional provision.

1. For the avoidance of doubt, this Act applies to any hospitality establishment meeting the eligibility criteria on the date of commencement, regardless of whether a planning application, sale agreement, or demolition order in respect of the premises was submitted, executed, or issued before the date of commencement.
2. Any planning application for the demolition or conversion of a premises that would, on the date of commencement, qualify for registration under this Act shall be suspended pending the completion of the registration process under Article 5.

Article 13: Commencement and application.

1. This Act shall apply to all of the Federation of Nouvelle Alexandrie.
2. This Act shall not become law unless it has been given Royal Assent.
3. This Act shall be published and made publicly available.
4. In the event any provision or part of this Act is found to be invalid or unenforceable, only that particular provision or part so found, and not the entire Act, will be inoperable.

See also

• Federal Heritage Register Act, 1712
• Department of Education, Sports, and Culture (Nouvelle Alexandrie)
• Coalition for Cultural Heritage Preservation
• Lyrica Heritage Foundation
• 12th Cortes Federales