Sunnyvale, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

010 imposes two separate bans covering the same public locations: streets, parkstrips, sidewalks and public property up to the private property line, lanes, alleys, public parks and other public property. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful to drink any alcoholic beverage in those areas, and subsection (b) separately makes it unlawful to possess a can, bottle or other container of an alcoholic beverage that has been opened, has a broken seal, or has had its contents partially removed while in those same areas. Both bans include the identical carve-out: consumption or possession is lawful if it is expressly permitted at that location under a permit or ordinance and the person complies with that permit's or ordinance's terms, or if the city has otherwise authorized it.

Subsection (c) extends the open-container possession and drinking ban to private parking lots that are open to the public, unless the lot's owner or operator expressly allows it. Subsection (d) clarifies the chapter does not override state law: California Vehicle Code Sections 23121 through 23123 on open containers inside a motor vehicle on a highway, and Business and Professions Code Section 25662 on possession of intoxicating liquor by someone under 21 on a public street, highway or public place, continue to apply on their own terms alongside this local chapter.