Harris v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board

201 Cal. App. 2d 567, 20 Cal. Rptr. 227, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2628
California Court of Appeal·Decided March 19, 1962·No. Civ. 20075·Published·Cited by 5 cases

Opinion

AGEE, J.

The Berkeley Women’s City Club is located within one mile (about 500 feet) of the University of California, at Berkeley. Its application for a club license to sell alcoholic beverages within its premises was denied by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control on the ground that use of such a license would be in violation of section 172 of the Penal Code. On appeal by the club, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board reversed the decision of the department on the ground that it had erroneously interpreted the applicable law. The department then petitioned the superior court for a writ of mandate requiring the board to set aside its decision and affirm the decision of the department. *569 This appeal is from the judgment and order of the superior court denying the department’s petition.

Section 172 of the Penal Code provides: “Every person who, . . . within one mile of the grounds belonging to the University of California, at Berkeley, . . . sells . . . any intoxicating liquor, is guilty of a misdemeanor, ...” This provision has been in existence since the code amendments of 1875-1876. In 1959, section 172e of the Penal Code was enacted, creating an exception to the foregoing prohibition by providing that it should not apply to the sale of liquor “within premises licensed as a bona fide public eating place” nor preclude the issuance of licenses “for bona fide public eating places” within said one-mile area.

The club has never had any type of liquor license heretofore and it is not now attempting to become licensed as “a bona fide public eating place. ’ ’ Its application is for a license as “a bona fide club.” These two types of licenses are distinct from each other. Both are provided for in article XX, section 22, of the California Constitution, as follows: “All alcoholic beverages may be bought, sold, served, consumed and otherwise disposed of in premises which shall be licensed as provided by the Legislature. In providing for the licensing of premises, the Legislature may provide for the issuance of, among other licenses, licenses for the following types of premises where the alcoholic beverages specified in the licenses may be sold and served for consumption upon the premises: (a) For bona fide public eating places, as defined by the Legislature. (b) For public premises in which food shall not be sold or served as in a bona fide public eating place, but upon which premises the Legislature may permit the sale or service of food products incidental to the sale and service of alcoholic beverages. ... (c) For public premises for the sale and service of beers alone, (d) Under such conditions as the Legislature may impose, for railroad dining or club cars, passenger ships, common carriers by air, and bona fide clubs ...” (from amendments adopted November 6, 1956, and made operative on January 1, 1957; emphasis added).

The above constitutional provision thus authorizes the Legislature to provide for the issuance of licenses for various “types of premises,” among which are specified “bona fide public eating places,” “bona fide clubs,” and “public premises.”

*570 The three types of premises are defined by the Legislature in the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act 1 (Bus. & Prof. Code, §§ 23000 et seq.) Section 23038 defines ‘1 bona fide public eating place”; section 23039 defines “public premises”; and section 23037 defines “club.”

The applicant is a well-established nonprofit social club having a membership of about 1,600 adult female members. It is well equipped to and does prepare and serve daily a substantial number of meals to its members and their guests. The club is not open to the public and its facilities are not available to the public. It is open only to members and their invited guests. It was found by the department to qualify as a “bona fide club” within the meaning of the Constitution and section 23037.

Further implementing the constitutional provision for the licensing of bona fide clubs, sections 23425 to 23428.9, inclusive, enumerate in this category certain fraternal organizations, golf clubs, swimming and tennis clubs, yacht clubs, bar associations, county medical associations, rod and gun clubs, press clubs, horse riding clubs, parlors of Native Sons, and nonprofit social clubs. Section 23430 permits the department to issue “one club license” to any of the clubs just named.

The Legislature again demonstrates its recognition of a bona fide club as a distinct type of licensee when providing for the annual fees of each type of license. Section 23320 provides: “The following are the types of licenses to be issued under this division [Alcoholic Beverage Control Act] and the annual fees to be charged therefor: ... (27) On-sale general license: In cities of 40,000 population or over [$]580.00 per year . . . (29) (a) On-sale general license for bona fide clubs, . . . [$]330.00 per year.” (Renumbered in 1961 as (28) and (30) (a), respectively; emphasis added.)

Of greater importance in the instant case than the difference in licensing fees is, of course, the foregoing provision that “ [t]he following are the types of licenses to be issued ...” (emphasis added). It clearly demonstrates the intent of the Legislature to keep clubs separate and apart from “public eating places” and “public premises” to which on-sale general licenses may be issued.

Another distinction is made with reference to the transferability of licenses. Section 24070.1 provides that an “on-sale *571 license issued for a bona fide public eating place may be transferred . . . An on-sale license issued for public premises may be transferred . . .” On the other hand, section 23431 provides that a “club license is not transferable . . .” Again we find another recognition by the Legislature of its awareness of the distinction. Section 23787 requires that an on-sale license cannot be issued to a bona fide public eating place unless it is “. . . maintained in good faith for sales to and consumption by the public of meals upon the premises. ’ ’ Whereas, section 23431 provides that the holder of a club license “. . . may sell and serve alcoholic beverages for consumption within the licensed establishment only to bona fide members of the club and their bona fide guests.” (Emphasis added.)

It seems clear that the Legislature has consistently been mindful of the distinction between the terms “bona fide public eating places” and “bona fide clubs,” as those terms are used in the Constitution, and that it has always maintained this distinction throughout the provisions of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act.

So that, in 1959, when the Legislature created an exception to section 172 of the Penal Code by enacting section 172e thereof, it must have intended exactly what the section says, that the exception be restricted to “premises licensed as a bona fide public eating place.”

To contend otherwise is to say in effect that the intent of the Legislature, in enacting section 172e of the Penal Code, was to add by implication the words hereafter italicized:11 The provisions of Sections 172, 172a, 172b, and 172d of this code shall not apply to the sale ...

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Harris v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board, 201 Cal. App. 2d 567, 20 Cal. Rptr. 227, 1962 Cal. App. LEXIS 2628 (Cal. Ct. App. 1962).

201 Cal. App. 2d 567 (Harris v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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