Chesapeake, VA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Chesapeake City Code Sec. 46-182(a) makes it a Class 4 misdemeanor to take a drink of an alcoholic beverage or offer one to someone else, whether or not it is accepted, in or at a public place. The same subsection separately criminalizes simply possessing an opened alcoholic beverage container in or on a city park, community center, playground or public street, again as a Class 4 misdemeanor, regardless of whether anyone is actually seen drinking from it. The ordinance carries two built-in exceptions. Subsection (b) allows drinking in rooms or areas approved by the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board inside a licensed establishment, as long as the beverages were purchased there and the establishment holds an on-premises retail license.

00 to cover potential facility damage, submits an application at least 45 days before the event, and agrees to conditions covering security, traffic control, insurance and compliance with ABC Board rules; permit decisions are due within 15 business days, and a denial can be appealed to the city manager within seven days. City parks are also covered by a parallel intoxicating-beverages provision at Sec. 50-20. Sec. 46-182 dates to a 1972 ordinance and was most recently amended in 2015 (Ord. No. 15-O-045).