Columbia, SC Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 14-99(a) makes it unlawful to consume, or to possess in an open container, any alcoholic beverage in or on any public street, road, alley, sidewalk, tree zone, parking garage or park within the city. Subsection (b) lists exceptions: sidewalks covered by an encroachment ordinance for a restaurant's outdoor seating, public areas designated by city council resolution as the site of a festival or special event where drinking is allowed, streets or tree zones behind barricades for a neighborhood block event approved by the Columbia Police Department, and city-owned parking garages hosting a free admission-event approved by Parking Services, the Fire Marshal, and the police department.

Subsection (c) defines an 'open container' as a cup, glass, mug or any bottle, can or flask without a securely affixed top or cork, and defines 'tree zone' as the strip of land between a street and an adjacent sidewalk. The section covers any beverage containing alcohol in any percentage, including beer, ale, porter, wine and liquor. This provision, adopted by Ord. No. 94-75 in 1994 and last amended in 2014, was written to keep drinking confined to licensed premises, permitted outdoor dining areas or council-sanctioned festivals rather than the open public right-of-way.