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

Section 9.28.220 of the Woodland Municipal Code bars consuming any alcoholic beverage, as defined in Business and Professions Code Section 23004, on public parking lots, private parking lots held open to the public, public streets, sidewalks, alleys and walkways, and in any place open to the public within 250 feet of an establishment selling alcohol. Two narrow carve-outs exist. Under subsection B, a person or group applying for a block party permit may request an exemption from the open-container ban for the duration and footprint of the approved block party, so consumption is allowed only where and when the permit describes it.

Under subsection C, added by Ordinance 1742 on October 7, 2025, the ban does not apply inside an activated Downtown Entertainment Zone during an entertainment zone event under Chapter 12.42. Outside those two situations, the rule covers essentially every public right-of-way and open parking area in the city, plus the 250-foot buffer around any liquor-licensed business, which reaches sidewalks and lots well beyond downtown. The section traces to Prior Code Section 15-39 and was last reordained by Ordinance 1713 on October 3, 2023. Subsection E clarifies the local ban layers on top of, rather than replaces, state alcohol law, so a violator can still face separate state charges for related conduct such as public intoxication.