In re the Title, Ballot Title & Submission Clause, & Summary Pertaining to the Sale of Table Wine in Grocery Stores Initiative Adopted on March 24, 1982

646 P.2d 916, 1982 Colo. LEXIS 624
CourtSupreme Court of Colorado
DecidedJune 21, 1982
DocketNos. 82SA210, 82SA211
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 646 P.2d 916 (In re the Title, Ballot Title & Submission Clause, & Summary Pertaining to the Sale of Table Wine in Grocery Stores Initiative Adopted on March 24, 1982) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Colorado primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
In re the Title, Ballot Title & Submission Clause, & Summary Pertaining to the Sale of Table Wine in Grocery Stores Initiative Adopted on March 24, 1982, 646 P.2d 916, 1982 Colo. LEXIS 624 (Colo. 1982).

Opinion

ROVIRA, Justice.

In an original proceeding brought pursuant to sections 1-40-101 and 102, C.R.S. 1973 (1980 Repl.Vol. 1B & 1981 Supp.), Laurence A. Peterson (petitioner), a qualified elector, challenges the denial of his motion for rehearing concerning the fairness and accuracy of the title, ballot title and submission clause, and summary prepared by the Initiative Title Setting Review Board (Board),1 regarding a proposed initiative to allow the sale of table wine in grocery stores.

In a separate original proceeding Bernie Jones (petitioner) and others, all qualified electors, also challenge the denial of their motion for rehearing contesting the fairness and accuracy of the title and the ballot title and submission clause regarding the same initiative. We have consolidated these proceedings for purposes of this opinion since the objections raised by the petitioners are substantially similar.

Both petitioners request this court to reverse the action of the Board and remand the title and the ballot title and submission clause to the Board with instructions to correct alleged errors. Peterson also requests that we remand the summary because it is not a clear and impartial state[919]*919ment and does not reflect the fiscal impact on state and local government.2 We affirm the Board’s denial of both motions for rehearing.

At the outset we note that section 1-40-101(2), C.R.S.1973 (1980 Repl. Vol. IB), mandates that the initiated measure’s title must correctly and fairly express the true intent and meaning of the proposed measure, and the ballot title shall be brief, shall not conflict with other ballot titles, shall be in the form of a question, and shall unambiguously state the principle of the proposal. The summary must be clear, concise, and be a true and impartial statement as to the intent of the proposed law. The summary shall not be an argument, nor likely to create prejudice, for or against the measure. Further, if in the opinion of the Board the proposed law will have a fiscal impact on the state or any of its political subdivisions, the summary shall include an estimate of any such fiscal impact together with an explanation thereof. See In Re Second Initiated Constitutional Amendment Respecting the Rights of the Public to Uninterrupted Service by Public Employees of 1980, Colo., 613 P.2d 867 (1980).

The principles which guide us in our review of this case are well established:

“(1) [W]e must not in any way concern ourselves with the merit or lack of merit of the proposed [initiative] since, under our system of government, that resolution rests with the electorate; (2) all legitimate presumptions must be indulged in favor of the propriety of the board’s action; and (3) only in a clear case should a title prepared by the board be held invalid.”

Bauch v. Anderson, 178 Colo. 308, 310, 497 P.2d 698, 699 (1972). See In re the Title, Ballot Title, Submission Clause and Summary Pertaining To the Branch Banking Initiative, Colo., 612 P.2d 96 (1980); In re the Proposed Initiative on Transfer of Real Estate, Colo., 611 P.2d 981 (1980); In re An Initiated Constitutional Amendment Respecting Rights of the Public to Uninterrupted Services by Public Employees, 199 Colo. 409, 609 P.2d 631 (1980).

The proposed initiated law states:

“Be It Enacted by The People of the State of Colorado:
“SECTION 1. Part 1 of Article 47 of Title 12, Colorado Revised Statutes 1973, 1978 Repl. Vol., as amended, is amended BY THE ADDITION OF A NEW SECTION, to read:
“12-47-117.5 Retail Grocery Store Wine License.
“(1) Effective January 15, 1983, a person operating a retail grocery store may file verified applications, and after licensing by the state and local licensing authorities, may sell table wine in sealed containers not to be consumed at the place where sold. Such license shall be known as a ‘retail grocery store wine license;’ and, notwithstanding 12-47-112(1) and 12-47-135(1), may be issued by state and local licensing authorities. The person may own, either in whole or in part, or be directly or indirectly interested in, one or more retail grocery store wine licenses.
“(2) For purposes of this section:
“(a) ‘Retail grocery store’ means a premises intended for the sale of groceries at retail and which receives its annual gross income primarily from the retail sale of edible food products regularly sold for human consumption off the premises. For the sole purpose of determining whether this income requirement has been met, ‘food’ shall mean food as defined in 39-26-102(4.5). There shall be a rebuttable presumption that a premises is a retail grocery store if it receives over fifty percent of its annual gross income from such sales. It is the intent of this section to require a retail grocery store wine licensee to maintain a bona fide grocery store business, and not a mere pretext of such for obtaining a retail grocery store wine license.
[920]*920“(b) ‘Table wine’ means all wine not exceeding fourteen percent of alcohol by volume.
“(3) It shall be unlawful for a retail grocery store wine licensee to have on the licensed premises any table wine container which shows evidence of having once been opened, or which contains a volume of table wine less than that specified on the label of such container.
“(4) No retail grocery store wine license shall be issued .for any building located within five hundred feet of any public or parochial school or the principal campus of any college, university, or seminary. Such distance shall be computed by direct measurement from the nearest property line of the land used for school purposes to the nearest portion of such building, using a route of direct pedestrian access.
“(5) A person under eighteen years of age who is under the supervision of a person on the premises over eighteen years of age may be employed in a retail grocery store, and during the normal course of such employment, handle and otherwise act with respect to table wine in the same manner as he may with fermented malt beverage under the Colorado Beer Code. This subsection shall not be construed to permit the violation of any provision of this article under circumstances not specified in this subsection.
“(6) Every person selling table wine as provided in this section shall purchase such table wine only from a wholesaler licensed pursuant to this article, and shall receive and store all shipments and deliveries of such table wine from a wholesaler only at the retail grocery store constituting the licensed premises from which such table wine will be sold.

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Bluebook (online)
646 P.2d 916, 1982 Colo. LEXIS 624, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/in-re-the-title-ballot-title-submission-clause-summary-pertaining-to-colo-1982.