Lets any city or county create entertainment zones

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Act contains various provisions regulating the application for, the issuance of, the suspension of, and the conditions imposed upon alcoholic beverage licenses by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control. Existing law defines “entertainment zone” for purposes of the act as a zone created by ordinance on or after January 1, 2024, in the City and County of San Francisco, that authorizes consumption of one or more types of alcoholic beverages on public streets, sidewalks, or public rights-of-way adjacent to and during a special event permitted or licensed by the department. Existing law authorizes the City and County of San Francisco to establish an entertainment zone, subject to certain requirements, including providing specified information relating to the entertainment zone to the department and establishing a process or procedure by which persons in possession of alcoholic beverages in the entertainment zone may be readily identifiable as being 21 years of age or older.

This bill would, instead, define “entertainment zone” as a zone created by a city, county, or city and county ordinance on or after January 1, 2025, that authorizes consumption of one or more types of alcoholic beverages on public streets, sidewalks, or public rights-of-way. The bill would additionally authorize any city, county, or city and county to establish an entertainment zone, subject to the above-described requirements. Before enacting an ordinance to establish or modify an entertainment zone, the bill would require a city, county, or city and county to notify local law enforcement and request feedback about specific information, including, among others, the entertainment zone’s proposed boundaries and days and hours of operation. The bill would require a city, county, or city and county that establishes an entertainment zone, or its designated subordinate officer or body, to review the operation of the entertainment zone every 2 years following the adoption of the entertainment zone, as specified, and to make any reports produced during the review available to the department upon request.

Existing law authorizes a licensed beer manufacturer, a licensed winegrower, and any on-sale licensee to permit consumers to leave the premises with open containers of alcoholic beverages for consumption off the premises within an entertainment zone, subject to certain conditions. Existing law specifies that a licensed beer manufacturer, a licensed winegrower, and any on-sale licensee whose privileges are restricted due to operating conditions or other statutory restrictions may be prohibited from exercising entertainment zone privileges that are contrary to their operating conditions. For this purpose, existing law requires any restrictions on the exercise of off-sale privileges to apply to the removal of alcoholic beverages from the licensed premises for consumption in the entertainment zone.

This bill would, instead, prohibit any restrictions on the exercise of off-sale privileges from applying to the removal of open alcoholic beverages from the licensed premises for consumption in the entertainment zone.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 23358 of the Business and Professions Code proposed by AB 2177 to be operative only if this bill and AB 2177 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.