Pronto Market No. 1, Inc. v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board

Pronto Market No. 1, Inc., seeks review of a decision of the Alcoholic Beverage Control Appeals Board (hereinafter designated as Board) denying petitioner’s application for a type 9 beer and wine importer’s license.

The issue presented in this matter is whether the tied-house restrictions contained in the Alcoholic Beverage Control Act (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 25500 et seq.) prohibit issuance of a type 9 beer and wine importer’s license (§ 23320, subd. (9)) to petitioner because petitioner already holds a winegrower’s license (§ 23320, subd. (2)) and an off-sale general license (§ 23320, subd. (21)).

Section 25502, upon which the Board primarily relied in denying petitioner’s application, provides in pertinent part as follows: “No manufacturer, winegrower, . . . importer, or wholesaler, or any officer, director, or agent of any such person, shall, except as authorized by this division: (a) Hold the ownership, directly or indirectly, of any interest in an off-sale general license....”

The purposes for and historical development of the tied-house restrictions were discussed by our Supreme Court in the case of California Beer Wholesalers Assn., Inc. v. Alcoholic Bev. etc.…