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

Chapter 13 of Title 5 of the Watsonville Municipal Code covers intoxication. Section 5-13.01 defines intoxicating liquor as any alcoholic beverage containing more than one-half of one percent of alcohol by volume, plus all kinds of spirituous, vinous and malt liquors, so beer and wine are covered along with spirits.

Section 5-13.02 makes it unlawful to drink or consume intoxicating liquor in any public park (except as provided in Section 10-2.14 of Title 10), on any public street, on any public way or sidewalk, or on any public school grounds. It also reaches defined public places: enclosed outdoor areas owned or occupied by the City or a public school district; unenclosed outdoor areas, publicly or privately owned, to which the general public has access, including entrance ways, alcoves, yards and parking lots, except outdoor areas reserved for the business of serving food and beverage to the public; privately owned walkways open to the public; and outdoor parking lots adjacent to streets, sidewalks or other public places. The Council can allow drinking in those parking lots by resolution, with notice posted.

Section 5-13.03 bans possession of an opened receptacle of liquor in any of those places. A container counts if it has been opened, its seal is broken, or part of the contents has been removed. The only safe harbor is a receptacle fully enclosed in a box or other container so that it is inaccessible for consumption without opening that box or container. The section does not apply to anything governed or regulated by the State Vehicle Code.

Related rules sit beside it. Section 5-13.04 bans loitering with an opened container in the same places, and Section 5-13.05 makes it unlawful to be on any public street, in a described public place or on any public property in a state of intoxication.