Courtney v. City of Sherman

792 S.W.2d 135, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1862, 1990 WL 105061
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedApril 16, 1990
Docket05-89-00901-CV
StatusPublished
Cited by8 cases

This text of 792 S.W.2d 135 (Courtney v. City of Sherman) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Courtney v. City of Sherman, 792 S.W.2d 135, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1862, 1990 WL 105061 (Tex. Ct. App. 1990).

Opinion

OPINION

BAKER, Justice.

The central issue in this case is whether the City of Sherman can impose stricter standards upon private club permit-tees regarding the service of alcoholic beverages than those standards imposed by the Texas Legislature. We hold that it cannot.

The City adopted Zoning Ordinance 3990 which provided that all private clubs granted a permit by the State of Texas must obtain a specific use permit to operate in the City. It provided further that:

All applicants granted a specific use permit to operate a club shall conduct their business in a manner that produces gross revenues on an annual basis from the sale of food that is equal to or greater than the gross revenue produced from the service of alcoholic beverages.

Subsequently, Ordinances 4070 and 4088 were passed, amending the reporting provisions of Ordinance 3990. Ralph Courtney applied for and received a specific use permit to operate a private club in the City. Thereafter, however, Courtney refused to file affidavits in compliance with Ordinance 3990 and its amendments, stating that the revenue from his private club’s food sales was equal to or exceeded the revenue produced from the service of alcoholic beverages. Instead, he brought suit contending that the ordinances were unconstitutional because they conflicted with state law. See Tex. Const, art. 11, § 5. The trial court held that the amending ordinances, Ordinances 4070 and 4088, were unconstitutional because they conflicted with state law and granted a temporary injunction preventing their enforcement. However, the court upheld Ordinance 3990. Courtney appeals, contending that Ordinance 3990 is in conflict with state law and thereby unconstitutional. By cross-points, the City contends that the amending ordinances are constitutional.

The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code regulates the licensing of private clubs. See Tex.Alco.Bev.Code Ann. §§ 32.01-07 (Vernon 1978). 1 Qualifications for a permit include:

(g) The club must provide regular food service adequate for its members and their guests.
(h) The club’s total annual membership fees, dues, or other income, excluding proceeds from the disposition of alcoholic beverages but including service charges, must be sufficient to defray the annual rental of its leased or rented premises or, if the premises are owned by the club, sufficient to meet the taxes, insurance, and repairs and the interest on any mortgage on the premises.
§ 32.03. The Code further provides that: Unless otherwise specifically provided by the terms of this code, the manufacture, sale, distribution, transportation, and possession of alcoholic beverages shall be governed exclusively by the provisions of this code.
§ 1.06.

It is apparent that the City is attempting to impose stricter standards upon the distribution of alcoholic beverages by private club permittees than the state. The Code provides that the private club need only provide regular food service adequate for its members and requires that revenues be sufficient to defray costs of sustaining the premises. The City is requiring that the revenues from food sales equal or ex *137 ceed the revenues from the service of alcoholic beverages. Courtney contends that since the legislature has specified the qualifications for a private club permit and because the Code is the exclusive governor of these requirements, the City cannot impose stricter standards. See City of Wichita Falls v. Abell, 566 S.W.2d 336, 339 (Tex.Civ.App.—Fort Worth 1978, writ ref'd n.r. e.); Royer v. Ritter, 531 S.W.2d 448, 450 (Tex.Civ.App.-Beaumont 1975, writ ref’d n.r.e.). The City counters, averring that section 211.013 of the Local Government Code permits zoning which imposes higher standards than those provided by state statute. That section provides that:

If a zoning regulation adopted under this subchapter requires a greater width or size of a yard, court, or other open space, requires a lower building height or fewer number of stories for a building, requires a greater percentage of lot to be left unoccupied,' or otherwise imposes higher standards than those required under another statute or local ordinance or regulation, the regulation adopted under this subchapter controls.

Tex.Local Gov’t.Code Ann. § 211.013(a) (Vernon 1988) (the City’s emphasis).

The City relies on Abilene Oil Distrib., Inc. v. City of Abilene, 712 S.W.2d 644, 645 (Tex.App.—Eastland 1986, writ ref’d n.r.e.), which held that the predecessor to section 211.013 permits the imposition of stricter standards than those provided by the Alcoholic Beverage Code. The facts in that case are distinguishable. In Abilene Oil, the court held that the city could impose greater distance requirements between liquor stores and public schools, churches, and hospitals than those required by the Code. Abilene Oil, 712 S.W.2d at 645. But see City of Wichita Falls, 566 S.W.2d at 339, where it was held that the City could not impose greater distance requirements between where alcoholic beverages were sold and churches, schools, or hospitals. The City’s reliance on section 211.013 is misplaced. That section permits cities to impose higher standards regarding the regulation of the location, use, spacing, and the physical nature and character of buildings and lots and does not permit the regulation of the manufacture, sale, distribution, transportation, and possession of alcoholic beverages governed exclusively by the Code. 2 See SDJ, Inc. v. City of Houston, 837 F.2d 1268, 1280 (5th Cir.1988), reh’g denied, 841 F.2d 107; Banknote Club and Stan’s Boilermaker v. City of Dallas, 608 S.W.2d 716, 718-19 (Tex.Civ.App.-Dallas 1980, writ ref’d n.r.e.).

In our view, the legislature has attempted to preempt the field concerning private club regulation. 3 The City’s ordinance, *138 which imposes upon the private club the requirement that it procure as much or more revenues from the sale of food as it does from the service of alcohol, is in direct conflict with the Code. By zoning ordinance, the City has attempted to make more onerous the requirements of operating a private club than required under the Code. If the ordinance were allowed to stand, the result would be to make illegal that which is legal under the laws of the State of Texas. See City of Wichita Falls,

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Bluebook (online)
792 S.W.2d 135, 1990 Tex. App. LEXIS 1862, 1990 WL 105061, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/courtney-v-city-of-sherman-texapp-1990.