Yorba Linda, CA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Yorba Linda Municipal Code Section 9.24.010, adopted by Ordinance 95-747 in 1995, is the City's only alcohol-in-public provision, and it is narrowly scoped: it bars drinking or possessing an opened, seal-broken, or partially-emptied container of alcohol in or on any city-owned or operated parking facility, rather than establishing a general citywide open-container ban on streets, sidewalks or parks. The section gives the city manager, or a designated representative, discretion to grant exceptions for an organization that is state-licensed to serve alcohol and is in compliance with all city and state regulations, but only if the manager determines in his or her sole discretion that the exception will not harm public health, safety or welfare, and any exception can carry conditions the manager deems necessary.

Because Chapter 9.24 sets no fine of its own, a violation defaults to the Section 1.12.010 general penalty, a fine up to $1,000 and up to six months in jail, or both, with the City Attorney able to reduce the charge to an infraction. Anyone looking to serve alcohol at an event in a City parking facility, such as a Town Center lot during a community event, needs to secure the city manager's approval in advance rather than relying on a separate special event or alcohol license alone.

Outside city-owned parking facilities, this section does not reach; other public places such as sidewalks or City parks are governed instead by the separate loitering rules in Chapter 9.04 or the parks provisions in Chapter 12.20, not by this alcohol-specific section.