Santa Clara, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

040 splits the ban into three parts. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful to drink intoxicating liquor on "any public right-of-way (which includes the street, park strip, sidewalk and public property up to the private property line) lane, alley, public park or other public property," unless the City Council specifically authorizes the activity. Subsection (b) extends the same ban to private parking lots that are open to the public, so a shopping-center lot is covered even though it is not City land. Subsection (c) separately makes possession of any open container of alcohol in a City-owned park or public place an infraction, but carves out premises inside a park or public place that hold an ABC license, such as a permitted concession or restaurant patio.

The section is careful not to duplicate state law: subsection (d) states it has no application to open-container-in-a-vehicle rules under Vehicle Code §§ 23221-23223, or to the under-21 possession ban in Business and Professions Code § 25662, leaving those to state enforcement. Subsection (e) also clarifies the ordinance does not stop someone from transporting liquor from one location to another in a manner State law permits, so carrying a sealed bottle home from a store is not itself a violation. The ordinance was last amended by Ordinance 1896 in 2012 and traces back to former § 18-9 of the pre-codification municipal code.