Alcoholic beverages: additional licenses: County of El Dorado and County of Placer.

Existing law, the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, administered by the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, regulates the sale and distribution of alcoholic beverages and the granting of licenses for the manufacture, distribution, and sale of alcoholic beverages within the state. Existing law limits the amount of on-sale general licenses that may be issued by the department based on the population of the county in which the licensed premises are located. Existing law provides various exceptions to the limitation described above, including authorizing the issuance of up to 10 additional new original on-sale general licenses for bona fide public eating places in the County of Placer. Existing law prohibits the department from issuing more than 4 of these licenses per year. Existing law requires the department to follow specified procedures concerning the issuance of these licenses, and authorizes the department to designate these licenses as on-sale general for special use. Existing law specifies that a person holding a valid on-sale general license for seasonal business is not prohibited from applying for licenses to be issued pursuant to this authorization. Existing law prohibits these licenses from being, among other things, transferred from one county to another. This bill would authorize the department to issue, except as specified, up to a total of 10 additional new original on-sale general licenses for bona fide public eating places, up to 4 in the first year the bill takes effect, in the County of El Dorado and in the County of Placer, to premises where the operation of a bona fide public eating place is located in a retail center, as defined. The bill would require the department to issue at least 3 of these licenses for a premises located in a retail center that contains at least 1,000,000 square feet of retail shopping space, as specified. If one of those licenses is canceled or revoked, the bill would authorize the department to issue an additional license. The bill would require the department to follow specified procedures concerning the issuance of these licenses, and would authorize the department to designate these licenses as on-sale general for special use. The bill would also specify that a person holding a valid on-sale general license for seasonal business is not prohibited from applying for licenses to be issued pursuant to this authorization. The bill would prohibit licenses issued under its provisions from being, among other things, transferred from one county to another.