Novi, MI Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Sections 3-2 and 3-3 of the Novi City Code make it unlawful for anyone to possess an open container of alcoholic liquor, or to consume alcoholic liquor, in a "public place" or upon any public street or highway. Section 3-1 defines public place broadly to include any street, alley, park, public building, publicly-owned or administered area, and any place of business or assembly open to or frequented by the public. The ordinance carves out establishments licensed to sell alcohol under the Michigan Liquor Control Code and venues holding a temporary Michigan Liquor Control Commission permit for on-premises consumption.

Drinking in city-owned buildings, parks, or other publicly administered areas is allowed only under a policy and rules the Novi City Council adopts by resolution, so a permitted festival can get a carve-out but casual park drinking cannot. Chapter 3 sets no specific fine for a violation of Sections 3-2 or 3-3, so the Code's general penalty provision, Section 1-11, controls: unless an ordinance is specifically designated a municipal civil infraction, a violation defaults to a misdemeanor punishable by up to ninety days in jail and/or a five hundred dollar fine, with each day of a continuing violation treated as a separate offense.

Enforcement in the City of Novi falls to the Novi Police Department, whose officers may cite or arrest for possession or consumption violations under the chapter. The city ordinance operates independently of, though it echoes, the state open-container statute the chapter's footnotes cite, MCL 436.34, covering consumption on public highways or in parks and places of amusement.