San Clemente, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

020 of the San Clemente Municipal Code bans open-container possession broadly: it reaches consumption, sale, purchase, giving away, or simple possession of an open alcoholic-beverage container on any public street, right-of-way, park, beach, pier, or other public property. The ordinance carries forward the city's prior code section 16-5 and was last amended by Ordinance No. 1663 in 2018. Unlike a narrower open-container law that targets only drinking in public, this section also reaches carrying an open can or bottle across a public sidewalk or the beach even if it is not being consumed.

The only relief valve is discretionary: the City Council may, by resolution, exempt a specific state-licensed food establishment from the ban if it finds, in its sole discretion, that doing so will not be contrary to public health, safety, or welfare, and it can attach any conditions it deems necessary or convenient. That means a restaurant seeking outdoor alcohol service beyond its private property line, on a public sidewalk, pier, or parking area, needs a Council resolution, not just a state ABC license. The rule applies citywide, including San Clemente's beaches, the Municipal Pier, and the downtown Avenida Del Mar corridor, where beach days and sidewalk dining make open-container enforcement a routine part of code compliance and Police Services activity.