BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 525
Page 1
ASSEMBLY THIRD READING
AB 525 (Ting)
As Amended May 1, 2013
Majority vote
GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATION 17-0 APPROPRIATIONS 17-0
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|Ayes:|Hall, Nestande, Bigelow, |Ayes:|Gatto, Harkey, Bigelow, |
| |Chesbro, Cooley, Gray, | |Bocanegra, Bradford, Ian |
| |Hagman, | |Calderon, Campos, |
| |Roger Hernández, Jones, | |Donnelly, Eggman, Gomez, |
| |Jones-Sawyer, Levine, | |Hall, Ammiano, Linder, |
| |Medina, Perea, V. Manuel | |Pan, Quirk, Wagner, Weber |
| |Pérez, Salas, Torres, | | |
| |Waldron | | |
| | | | |
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SUMMARY : Permits the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control
(ABC) to issue a new special on-sale general license to the
operator of any for-profit theater located in the City and
County of San Francisco, configured with theatrical seating of
at least 1,000 seats and primarily devoted to live theatrical
performances, which would permit sales, service, and consumption
of alcoholic beverages in the lobbies and seating areas of the
theater at specified times. The bill would subject this license
to limitations regarding the number of licenses that may be
issued in a county and would not require the licensee to operate
as a bona fide public eating place. Specifically, this bill :
1)Provides ABC may issue a special on-sale general license to
the operator of any for-profit theater located within the City
and County of San Francisco, configured with theatrical
seating of at least 1,000 seats and primarily devoted to live
theatrical performances. The special on-sale general license,
as described, shall not be issued until any existing licenses
issued by ABC to the operator for the premises of the
for-profit theater are canceled.
2)Specifies that the special on-sale general license shall
permit sales, service, and consumption of alcoholic beverages
in the lobbies and seating areas of the theater for two
consecutive hours prior to a live theatrical performance and
one hour after the live theatrical performance is completed,
AB 525
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as defined.
3)Any special on-sale general license issued pursuant to this
section shall be subject to the licensing ratio limitation as
provided in current law, but shall not be required to be
operated as a bona fide public eating place.
4)Exempts the special on-sale general theater license from other
prohibitions relating to public premises licenses, as
specified.
5)Provides that the "for-profit theater" shall not include an
adult or sexually oriented business, as defined in the Penal
Code.
FISCAL EFFECT : According to the Assembly Appropriations
Committee, potential minor non-reimbursable local costs for
investigation and prosecution of violations, potentially offset
by fine revenue.
COMMENTS :
Background : ABC is vested with exclusive authority, in
accordance with laws enacted, to license and regulate the
manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages
within California. The ABC also has the power for good cause to
suspend, revoke or deny a license if it determines that granting
or continuance of the license would be contrary to public
welfare or morals.
Existing law establishes various alcoholic beverage license
categories and a schedule of annual fees charged to the
licensees. Under the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, ABC may
issue a special on-sale general license to any nonprofit theater
company that meets specified requirements. Theater companies
holding a license pursuant to these provisions may only sell and
serve alcoholic beverages to ticketholders during, and two hours
prior to and one hour after, a bona fide theater performance of
the company. There are 70 of these Type 64 licenses in
California for non-profit theater companies who meet the
specified requirements.
Purpose of the bill : According to the author's office, the
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purpose of this bill is to create a new general alcoholic
beverage license category that can accommodate the business
goals of an operator of any for-profit theater located in the
City and County of San Francisco.
The sponsor of the bill, Shorenstein, Hays, Nederlander Company
(SHN) states, the bill fixes a quirk in current law that
prevents our patrons from easily approaching service bars to
purchase alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages and carrying all
drinks elsewhere in the lobby or to their seats. This is
extremely problematic in our historically renovated theaters
that have limited lobby space.
SHN owns and operates the Curran, Golden Gate, and Orpheum
Theatres and is the pre-eminent theatrical entertainment company
in San Francisco. The three theaters are run as for-profit
theaters and currently hold Type 48 ABC licenses (On-Sale
General for Public Premises), which are licenses meant for
over-21-only bars. Under the license, SHN are able to serve
beer, wine, and distilled spirits to our attendees. However,
under current license type, patrons must consume their drinks in
a segregated, partitioned-off space - guests are unable to take
their drinks into the lobby or seating area and enjoy the show.
Because of our unique set of circumstances, as a for-profit
theatre not operating in a civic auditorium, we are unable to
qualify for another license type that would rectify the
situation.
The author's states this bill solves the problem by allowing the
issuance of a special on-sale general license that would permit
sales, service, and consumption of alcoholic beverages in the
lobbies and seating areas of the theater at specified times.
The bill contains several provisions that ensure appropriate
license controls are in place.
The author further states, this bill is a narrowly crafted bill
that will simply allow patrons to further enjoy their experience
at three historic theatres in San Francisco.
Prior legislation : AB 2793 (Governmental Organization
Committee), Chapter 273, Statutes of 2010. Permits a licensed
winegrower, to serve on the board of trustees of a nonprofit
theater company operating a theater in the City of Livermore, as
specified. Authorizes ABC to issue a club license to nonprofit
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lawn bowling clubs that do not discriminate or restrict
membership, as specified.
AB 2413 (Governmental Organization Committee), Chapter 579,
Statutes of 2002. Clarified an existing exception to tied-house
rules for a non-profit theater in Napa County and required ABC
to include information on enforcement efforts conducted in
conjunction with local law enforcement in their annual report to
the Legislature.
AB 1429 (Governmental Organization Committee), Chapter 567,
Statutes of 2001. Among other things, deleted the requirement
that a nonprofit theater company must be in existence for at
least 10 years in order for ABC to issue a special on-sale
general license.
Analysis Prepared by : Eric Johnson / G. O. / (916) 319-2531
FN: 0000635