Pismo Beach, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 9.04.010 defines a public place as any of the following locations that are not licensed for the consumption of alcoholic beverages at that location: alley, street, highway, sidewalk, pier, beaches, park, parkway, parking lot, playground, school grounds, bus station, or any other place, on private or public property, to which the general public is invited or has access. The pier and the beaches are named outright, which matters in a beach city, and the definition reaches private parking lots open to the public.

Section 9.04.020 then sets two separate prohibitions. Subsection A makes it unlawful to consume any alcoholic beverage upon any public place. Subsection B makes it unlawful to have in your possession or on your person any bottle, glass, can or other receptacle containing an alcoholic beverage, including wine or beer, that has been opened, had a seal broken, or had its contents partially removed, in any public place within the city. Carrying a sealed bottle is not addressed by subsection B, but drinking from it in a public place is covered by subsection A.

Subsection C limits the section to permitted subjects of local regulation not preempted by state law and says it does not apply to acts prohibited or punishable by state law. Subsection D makes a violation an infraction, with the fine specified in Chapter 1.20.

There is a permit route for city-owned property. Under § 9.04.030 the city manager or a designee can issue a permit to sell, furnish, serve and consume alcoholic beverages on property the city owns, controls or operates, including a public street, sidewalk, alley, park, playground, recreation area, building or facility. The applicant must carry general liability and liquor liability insurance approved by the risk manager or city attorney, hold all California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control permits, and show the event will not unreasonably interfere with public use or the public health, safety or welfare, will not be reasonably likely to result in violence, and will not entail extraordinary city expense.