Richmond Municipal Code Ch. 7.90 Wine Cooler and Spirit Cooler Containers—distribution, Sale and Redemption

For purposes of this chapter the following terms shall be defined as follows:

(a) "City" means all that territory within the boundaries of the city of Richmond, county of Contra Costa, state of California.

(b) "City Manager" means the City Manager of the city, or said Manager's designated representative.

(c) "Consumer" means every person who, for his or her use or consumption, purchases wine or spirit cooler beverages in a container from a dealer in the city.

(d) "Container" means any sealed receptacle, of whatever denominated capacity, made of glass, metal, plastic or other material or any combination of materials, which directly holds or contains wine or spirit cooler beverages. "Container" does not include cups, glasses or similar open or loosely sealed receptacles.

(e) "Dealer" means any person, corporation or commercial enterprise engaged in the sale to consumers of wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers within the city.

(f) "Distributor" means any person who engages in the sale of wine or spirit cooler beverages in a container or containers to a dealer in the city. "Distributor" includes any person who imports or otherwise transports wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers from outside or within the city for sale to a dealer in the city.

(g) "Empty" as used in this chapter to describe a container, means a container which is all of the following:

(i) Has the original seal or closure broken or removed;

(ii) Does not contain foreign materials other than the residue of wine or spirit cooler beverages originally packaged in the container;

(iii) Bears the refund value marking pursuant to Section 7.90.020(c) of this chapter; and

(iv) Is not broken, crushed or otherwise damaged.

(h) "Person" means any individual person, group or persons, partnership, association, corporation or any other entity of any type whatsoever.

(i) "Place of business" as used in this chapter with respect to a dealer, means the location at which a dealer sells, or offers for sale, wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers. "Place of business" as used in this chapter with respect to a distributor, shall mean any location from which said distributor directly transports wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers to any dealer, if said location is within the state.

(j) "Sale" (or "sold" or "sell") means any commercial transaction, other than by vending machine, by any dealer in which wine or spirit cooler in containers is transferred to a consumer for monetary consideration for the purpose of off-premises consumption, or any commercial transaction by which a distributor transfers wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers to a dealer for monetary consideration for the purpose of sale by the dealer for off-premises consumption.

(k) "Spirit cooler" means any liquid intended for human consumption containing distilled spirits and concentrated or unconcentrated fruit juice or flavoring materials and containing not more than eight percent alcohol by volume.

(l) "Vending machine" means any mechanical device which upon insertion of legal tender, sells or dispenses wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers.

(m) "Wine cooler" means any liquid intended for human consumption containing wine and concentrated or unconcentrated fruit juice or flavoring materials and containing not more than seven percent alcohol by volume.

(a) Every wine or spirit cooler beverage container sold or offered for sale by a distributor to a dealer for sale by the dealer within the city shall have a refund value of not less than $0.05 for redemption by a dealer from the distributor.

(b) It is unlawful for a distributor to knowingly sell or offer to sell a wine or spirit cooler beverage container to a dealer for sale by the dealer within the city and for a dealer to purchase such a container for such purposes from a distributor unless the distributor charges and the dealer agrees to pay a refund value of not less than $0.05.

(c) Every wine or spirit cooler beverage container sold if offered for sale by a dealer within the city shall indicate clearly by embossing, stamp, label or other method, securely affixed to the container by the distributor, that the container has redemption value.

(d) It is unlawful for a distributor to knowingly sell or offer to sell a wine or spirit cooler beverage container to a dealer for sale by the dealer within the city and for a dealer to purchase such a container for such purposes unless the container is embossed, stamped or labeled with, or by other method indicates the message required by subparagraph (c) of this section.

(a) Every wine or spirit cooler beverage container sold or offered for sale by a dealer within the city shall have refund value of not less than $0.05 for redemption by a consumer from the dealer.

(b) It is unlawful for a dealer to sell or offer to sell a wine or spirit cooler beverage container within the city unless the dealer charges a deposit of not less than $0.05.

(a) It is unlawful for a distributor to refuse to accept from a dealer any empty wine or spirit cooler beverage container of the kind, size and brand sold by the distributor and which has been marked in the manner prescribed by Section 7.90.020(c) of this chapter, or to refuse to pay to the dealer a refund value for such container of not less than $0.05.

(b) It is unlawful for a distributor to refuse to accept from a consumer any empty wine or spirit cooler beverage container which is of the kind, size and brand sold by the distributor and which has been marked in the manner prescribed by Section 7.90.020(c) of this chapter, when such container has been delivered by the consumer to the distributor's place of business, or to refuse to pay to the consumer for such container, a refund value of not less than $0.05.

It is unlawful for a dealer who sells wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers to refuse to redeem a wine or spirit cooler beverage container from a consumer or refuse to pay a refund value for the container of not less than $0.05 to the consumer, when the request for redemption is made at the dealer's place of business within the city and the container is embossed, stamped or labeled with, or by other method indicates that the container has refund value, unless either:

(a) The container is not empty; or

(b) The container contained a brand or type of wine or spirit cooler which the dealer is not offering for sale at the time redemption is requested and has not offered for sale for a period of at least 90 (90) days.

The City Manager is authorized to enter the business premises during business hours of any dealer engaged in the sale of wine or spirit cooler beverages in containers in the city for the sole purpose of inspecting said premises to determine whether the dealer is in compliance with this chapter.

(a) Any dealer or distributor found to be in violation of any provision of this chapter shall be guilty of an infraction.

(b) An infraction may be punishable by:

(1) A fine not exceeding $50.00 for the first violation:

(2) A fine not exceeding $100.00 for the second violation.

(3) A fine not exceeding $250.00 for each additional violation within any 12-consecutive-month period. Any citation issued after the issuance of a third citation within any 12-consecutive-month period may be charged as a misdemeanor pursuant to Section 1.04.100 of this code.

(c) Any person causing or permitting a violation of this code shall be regarded as committing a separate offense on each day that the violation occurs or continues.

If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter is for any reason held to be unconstitutional or invalid, such a decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this chapter. The City Council declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this chapter, irrespective of the unconstitutionality or invalidity of any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase. Further, this chapter is not intended to infringe upon or conflict with any powers reserved to or occupied by the state under Article XX, Section 22 of the Constitution of the state.

The ordinance codified in this chapter shall become operative and be enforceable on February 1, 1989.

The provisions of Section 7.90.090, herein notwithstanding, if the state enacts a statute which establishes a redemption value for, or amends the "California Beverage Container Recycling and Litter Reduction Act" to include, or otherwise occupies the field of regulation of wine and spirit cooler beverage containers sold to consumers in the state, this chapter by its own terms, shall cease to be of any force or effect on the date such statute or regulation becomes effective. Should the state so act with respect only to wine cooler beverage containers, or with respect only to spirit cooler beverage containers, this chapter by its own terms, shall cease to be of any force or effect only with respect to the category of beverage containers covered by the state enactment on the date such statute or regulation becomes effective, and shall continue in effect with respect to the category of containers not so covered.

(Source: Ordinance No. 7-88 N.S.)