Dear SCSH homeowner,
SCSH holds two separate Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) licenses that have different privileges.
One license is located at 80-875 Avenue 40, Indio, CA 92203 and is a Type 47, on sale general eating place license which allows for onsite service and consumption of beer, wine, and distilled spirits. In 2012, an expansion was obtained for the Type 47 license. The expansion included the entire Montecito Clubhouse.
The other license is located at 81-420 N. Sun City Boulevard, Indio, CA and is a Type 41, on-sale beer and wine eating place license which allows for onsite service and consumption of beer and wine only. NO distilled spirits.
One of the major concerns discussed was BYOB.
Can a BYOB function take place in the Montecito Clubhouse, with no licensed caterer or TIPS certified representative present?
Yes, members can bring their own alcoholic beverages to the Montecito Clubhouse without a licensed caterer or a TIPS certified representative present. However, any issues resulting from consumption of alcohol on the licensed premises is the responsibility of SCSH.
What certifications/documents must a TIPS certified representative possess?
The ABC’s RBS program is a new program that went into effect July 1, 2022, and it requires all servers be RBS certified through the ABC website (see: https://abcbiz.abc.ca.gov/). An “Alcohol server” means a person who serves alcoholic beverages for consumption, or a person who manages or supervises that person, on premises licensed to serve alcoholic beverages pursuant to this division, including a designee for alcoholic beverage sales and service pursuant to temporary license. Server would include any and all bartenders, managers, and waiters/waitresses. Being certified means a certification issued by a training provider to a person who has successfully completed an RBS training course, as demonstrated by the passage of an exam.
A person shall not perform duties that include the sale or service of alcoholic beverages for consumption on licensed premises, and shall not manage that person, without a valid alcohol server certification. (Business and Professions Code Section 25683). Pursuant to Business and Professions
Code Section 25682:
(a) Beginning July 1, 2022, a licensee that is subject to this article shall not employ or continue to employ any alcohol server without a valid alcohol server certification.
(1) An alcohol server who was employed by the licensee prior to July 1, 2022, shall obtain an alcohol server certification by August 31, 2022.
(2) An alcohol server employed by the licensee on or after July 1, 2022, shall obtain an alcohol server certification within 60 calendar days of employment.
(b) (1) A licensee subject that is to this article shall ensure that each alcohol server it employs has a valid alcohol server certification. The licensee shall maintain records of certifications for inspection, upon request, by the department.
The failure of a licensee to comply with the RBS regulations shall be grounds for administrative disciplinary action by the ABC only. It is not grounds for any criminal action. (Business and Professions Code Section 25684).
For a wine tasting function. Can the wine distributor bring the wine to the Montecito Clubhouse and sell directly to the attendees?
No, a distributor cannot bring wine to the licensed premises and sell directly to attendees (California Code of Regulations Section 53). However, California Code of Regulations Section 534 does not prevent the holder of any license which permits the sale and consumption of wine on the premises, like SCSHCA, from holding a winetasting of wines legally acquired (i.e. purchased through a distributor), provided the on-sale licensee (SCSHCA) charges for the wines presented. In other words, SCSHCA would purchase wines from the distributor or winemaker and then charge for the winetasting event.
In addition, certain winegrowers, California winegrower’s agents, and wine blenders may conduct wine tastings which are sponsored by a bona fide charitable, fraternal, political, religious, trade, service, or similar private organization, where all of the following conditions shall prevail:
(1) The sponsor shall be a nonprofit organization.
(2) Attendance shall be limited to members of the sponsoring organization and their invited guests.
(3) No charge or donation shall be made either for the wine served or for admission to the premises.
(4) There shall be no advertising or public announcements of the event as a winetasting, and the general public shall not be invited.
(5) No wine shall be sold, and no sales or orders solicited, nor shall order blanks be placed in or about the premises. Brochures describing wines and their prices may be distributed, provided that they are not suitable for use as order blanks. No wine may be given as a gift, or as a prize to be removed from the premises.
(6) Wine tastings sponsored by private organizations may be held on unlicensed premises. They may also be held on premises regularly licensed with an on-sale general or on-sale beer and wine license, provided that the tastings are held in a banquet room or other portion of the premises which is completely separated from that portion of the premises where the sale of alcoholic beverages is being made; that no consumption of other alcoholic beverages is permitted; and that the retail licensee has surrendered the privileges of his license for the period the winetasting is being conducted on that portion of the retail premises in which the winetasting will take place, on a form provided by the department.
In conclusion, SCSHCA members and the various clubs will be able to take advantage of SCSHCA’s licenses and continue the various BYOB functions they’ve enjoyed. However, there are risks associated with BYOB functions especially when there are no TIPS or RBS certified representatives serving or monitoring the events. As discussed, there is administrative, criminal, and/or civil liability that is possible when alcohol is not consumed appropriately. Although not required, it might be appropriate to have a TIPS and RBS certified representative from Shadows to monitor events for potential issues like over intoxication. In addition, and if not already in place, I highly suggest SCSHCA prepare an acknowledgement and/or code of conduct that members must sign to hold events on the licensed areas. If the code of conduct is not followed, clubs can lose their privileges to hold events.
We thank you for your continued patience. The Board will further discuss the details and implementation of potential new policies on Monday, November 21, 2022 during General Session. The Board and Management understand that this was a huge inconvenience to everyone. However, necessary as a part of due diligence on behalf of the Board. We look forward to the Holidays and resuming club activities/functions.
Please forward any questions or concerns to Vanessa Ayon, Assistant General Manager, at vanessa.ayon@associa.us.