By:  Staples                                          S.B. No. 1145
                                A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-1                                   AN ACT
 1-2     relating to a local option election on alcoholic beverage zones in
 1-3     municipal commercial areas.
 1-4           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
 1-5           SECTION 1.  Subchapter D, Chapter 251, Alcoholic Beverage
 1-6     Code, is amended by adding Section 251.742 to read as follows:
 1-7           Sec. 251.742.  MUNICIPAL ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE ZONE.  (a)  In
 1-8     this section, "commercial area" means a contiguous area:
 1-9                 (1)  in which 75 percent or more of the land area,
1-10     excluding street rights-of-way, is devoted to or restricted to any
1-11     combination of retail, restaurant, entertainment, office,
1-12     government, or business uses; and
1-13                 (2)  includes at least 20 commercial establishments.
1-14           (b)  This section applies only to a municipality that:
1-15                 (1)  has a population of 25,000 or more; and
1-16                 (2)  is located in a county described by Section
1-17     251.74(a).
1-18           (c)  The qualified voters of a municipality may petition the
1-19     commissioners court of the county in which the municipality is
1-20     located, in the manner prescribed by this chapter, to order a local
1-21     option election to consider the legal sale of one or more
1-22     prohibited types or classifications of alcoholic beverages in a
1-23     designated zone within a commercial area of the municipality.  The
1-24     petition must describe the boundaries of the proposed zone.
1-25           (d)  An alcoholic beverage zone proposed under Subsection (c)
 2-1     may not include an area that is incorporated in an existing
 2-2     alcoholic beverage zone or that was incorporated in a proposed zone
 2-3     for which a local option election was conducted during the two-year
 2-4     period preceding the date of the resolution proposing the zone.
 2-5           (e)  The commissioners court shall order an election on the
 2-6     issue unless the commissioners court determines that the proposed
 2-7     zone does not conform to the requirements of this section.  The
 2-8     ballot for the election must:
 2-9                 (1)  describe the boundaries of the proposed zone; and
2-10                 (2)  permit voting for or against one of the ballot
2-11     issues prescribed by Section 251.14 with respect to the proposed
2-12     zone.
2-13           (f)  The qualified voters of a municipality may petition the
2-14     commissioners court of the county in which the municipality is
2-15     located, in the manner prescribed by this chapter, to order an
2-16     election to alter the status of the sale of any type or
2-17     classification of alcoholic beverages that has been legalized in a
2-18     zone by an election conducted under this section.
2-19           (g)  An election conducted under this section shall be
2-20     conducted within the entire boundaries of the municipality in which
2-21     an alcoholic beverage zone is proposed as those boundaries exist on
2-22     the date of the election.  The results of the election affect only
2-23     the wet or dry status of the area within the boundaries of the
2-24     zone.
2-25           (h)  The provisions for conducting a local option election
2-26     under this chapter apply to an election conducted under this
 3-1     section to the extent those provisions do not conflict with this
 3-2     section.
 3-3           (i)  A municipality shall bear the cost of an election held
 3-4     in the municipality under this section.
 3-5           (j)  The results of an election conducted under this section
 3-6     do not affect the legal sale of one or more types or
 3-7     classifications of alcoholic beverages that are permitted in the
 3-8     zone because of the zone's inclusion in a political subdivision.
 3-9           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.