Leander, TX Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 4.06.004 sits in Article 4.06, Alcoholic Beverages, inside Chapter 4, Business Regulations, of the Leander Code of Ordinances. Its full text reads: "Sales and consumption of alcoholic beverages on city property shall be by permit only." It covers two separate acts, selling and consuming, and it covers all city property, not only parks. The section prints no exception for a sealed container, a small amount, a picnic, or a private gathering held on a city site, so the permit is the starting point for every one of them.

The section does not name the permit or the office that issues it. The Code's special event division is where alcohol on public property is actually handled. Section 4.05.072 makes it unlawful to hold, sponsor, or cause a special event on public property without a special event permit. Section 4.05.074 sends the application to the fire department, filed online, and makes the permittee responsible for obtaining any additional permits, including alcohol permits. The reviewers named in section 4.05.071 are the fire chief, police chief, emergency management coordinator, public works director, and parks and recreation director, or their designees. Section 4.05.082(h) adds that an applicant must comply with all requirements of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission if alcoholic beverages are sold or served at an event. The Code does not say in so many words that a special event permit is the permit section 4.06.004 refers to, so an organizer planning to pour alcohol on city land should raise the alcohol plan in the application itself.

The rest of Article 4.06 handles licensed businesses, not drinkers. Section 4.06.001 adopts the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Code and makes it govern administration and enforcement of the article, and section 4.06.002 adopts its definitions. Section 4.06.003 ties hours of sale to Alcoholic Beverage Code sections 105.03 for mixed beverages and 105.05 for beer, and authorizes extended late-hours sales by duly permitted licensees. Section 4.06.005 bars alcohol sales at a place of business within 300 feet of a church, public school, or public hospital and sets up the city's variance procedure under section 109.33(e). None of those sections gives anyone a right to drink on city property; section 4.06.004 is the controlling rule there.