BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                    AB 1670


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          Date of Hearing:   April 20, 2016


                        ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS


                               Lorena Gonzalez, Chair


          AB  
          1670 (Dodd) - As Introduced January 15, 2016


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          Urgency:  No  State Mandated Local Program:  YesReimbursable:   
          No


          SUMMARY:


          This bill authorizes the Department of Alcoholic Beverage  
          Control (ABC) to issue additional on-sale general licenses  
          within Napa County. Specifically, this bill: 












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          1)Allows for a maximum of 25 new original on-sale general  
            licenses, within Napa County, over a five-year period starting  
            on January 1, 2017, for bona fide public eating places with a  
            seating capacity of 25 or more. 



          2)Authorizes ABC to issue a special on-sale general license to  
            the operator of any for-profit theater located within Napa  
            County with theatrical seating of at least 800 seats and  
            primarily devoted to live theatrical performances under  
            certain conditions. 



          FISCAL EFFECT:



          Any additional licensing and oversight costs for ABC associated  
          with this legislation will be minor and absorbable.

          COMMENTS:


          1)Purpose and background: On-sale general licenses. According to  
            the author, Napa County has become immensely popular over the  
            past few years as a tourist destination.  Each year, millions  
            of people visit Napa due to its international reputation for  
            producing fine wines. However, existing ABC regulations that  
            allocate certain alcohol licenses based on county population  
            limit Napa's ability to offer tourists additional restaurant  
            options. In August 2015, Napa was granted one new off-sale  
            license and no new on-sale licenses. 


            AB 2266 (Evans), Chapter 130, Statutes of 2008, authorized ABC  
            to issue a maximum of 15 new original on-sale general  








                                                                    AB 1670


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            licenses, over a three-year period, for bona fide public  
            eating-places in the county of Napa. 


          2)Purpose and background: Special on-sale general license for  
            theaters. According to the author, authorizing ABC to issue a  
            special on-sale general license to a for-profit theater  
            offering live performance would provide a boost to a local  
            business facing increasing hardships with the expansion of  
            online media streaming. Currently, the Uptown Theater in  
            downtown Napa is the only theater that meets the requirements  
            defined in this bill. The theater hosts a variety of live  
            music and comedy shows. The author argues that that the  
            ability to serve alcohol could offer financial relief to the  
            theater industry.   


            AB 1670 follows the footsteps of AB 525 (Ting), Chapter 235,  
            Statutes of 2013, which issued a similar type of exemption for  
            to any for-profit theater in San Francisco that was devoted to  
            live theatrical performance and had at least 1,000 seats.


          3)Other related legislation. In addition to the related bills  
            described above, a number of recent bills have created  
            specific license exemptions for individual counties. Those  
            bills are: 


             a)   AB 461 (Achadjian), Chapter 110, Statutes of 2013:  
               Authorized ABC to issue no more five new original on-sale  
               general licenses, over a three-year period, for bona fide  
               public eating places in San Luis Obispo County. 


             b)   AB 1320 (Allen), Chapter 467, Statutes of 2012:  
               Authorized ABC to issue no more 15 new original on-sale  
               general licenses, over a three-year period, for bona fide  
               public eating places in Marin County.








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             c)   SB 762 (Cox), Chapter 193, Statutes of 2007: Authorized  
               ABC to issue 10 new original on-sale general licenses for  
               bona fide public eating places in Mono County.


            Moreover, AB 1558 (Mathis) of 2016, which passed the Assembly  
            Governmental Organization Committee on April 6, 2016, would  
            allow 5 new on-sale general licenses, over a 2-year period,  
            for bona fide public eating places public premises, or both,  
            in Inyo County.  This bill is also on calendar today.


          Analysis Prepared by:Luke Reidenbach / APPR. / (916)  
          319-2081