282 

OFFICE OF THE A-ITORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

AUSTIN 

Hon. Bert Ford, Admlnlstrator 

?exa8 Liquor Control Eoard 

AU&in, Texas 

Gear Sir1 

Ymtlon 25. 

of the Texee Llqu 

part a8 tollowar 

rant door to 

in direct line 

looatlon would be within three hundred feet 

of a churoh. It 1s agreed by the applicant 

and the protestant that the city where this 

petit is located he8 a v&lid ordinanoe prohibitlng the looet’,on of a liquor establiehnent within three hundred feet of e churoh. 
X83 

Ron. Bert Ford, Fage 2 

*I have before ~8 the sworn statwent 

or the County Surveyor ot the Couiit7 uhere 

said pemit la located, which reads as tollOWB3 

**That, I a:IE the County SWveyor for Xiahlta County, and have 

aado a measurement from the center 

of the Bert door of the Salvation 

Army Citadel located at 810 7th 

Street, Wiohita Falls, Texas, to 

the Front door of the ymnlsea looated at 702-A Scott Street, Wlohita 

Falls, Texas, and find it to be Three 

Hundred and rive-tenth8 (300.2) and, 

that, thl8 measurement war nads to 

oonforre to Section 25(a), krtlole 

I, of the Texas I.lq’Jor Control iat. * 

Y!he building, a part ot' wblab la uaad 

for a ohuroh, has two atorleo. The lower 

floor hae what 1s deslgdated e8 a west door 

which opens ircm the retreat directly into 

the chapel. No part of the building ia used 

for ahuroh purposes except the chapel, whloh 

is on tne lower floor. Tha west door nentloned above la the door referred to in the 

affidavit of the County Surveyor. 

*The building also has another door opening from the street, known as the east door, 

rhioh does not open dlreotly hnto the ohapel, 

but opens into a hall from whloh the etairs 

lead to the eeoond floor. mere Is also 

another door from the hall whlah leads into 

the chapel. ‘!%a second stcry of the building, 

it 1s agreed, la not used for ahurch purposes. 

It 1s also agreed by all ooncerned that the 

eaat door la rlthln three hundred feet of the 

proposed liquor store location. 

*Doe6 the front door in this ease man 

the door leading from the atreet dlreatlr 

into the ohapel, or does ft man the other 
9on. Bert Ford, rage 3 

door which opena into the hall, irk which 

another door leeda lhto the chapel? In 

other worda, is the Admlnlatrator justified 

In finding which door 1s the main door to 

the chapel, or doe8 the word (front door' 

mean any door to the bufldIng?" 

Article 66d-%fa, Vernon*8 iianotated Penal Code 

read8 aa follows: 

*The Coimlaaloners* Court 0r any county 

ln the territory thereof outside incorporated 

oitle8 and torn8 end the governing authorltiea cf any city or town wlthln the corporate 

llelta of any such cltp or tcwn may prohibit 

the aale of alooholle beverage8 by any dealer 

where the plaoe of buslnesa of any auoh dealer 

la within three hundred (300) feet of any 

church, public school or public hospital, the 

neaaurementa to be along the property lines 

oi the street fronts and from front door to 

rront door and in dlreat line aorosa interaecMona where they ooour. 

as we oonatrue your opinion request you are prlmarlly interested in detenmlnlng which door cr doors of the 

preudeea desorlbed constitute the *front door* or Front 

doora* of 8ald premise8 In acoordance with Section 23(a) 

of Artiale I of the Texas Liquor Control Atit. 

The question is not without difficulty and we 

have been unable to rind any casa whioh ccntalna a deflnitlon of the term Wfront door-. However, we shall lllustrate how the courts have construed the term "front" in 

varloua altuatlone. 

*The rront of a lot, 1s very well known 

to be that art of the same whloh fBeC8 a 

atraat or a E reeta. It cay frop on one at eet 

zsl,’ a~tl~a7, front on two. h%at la the Lent 

aterminable by it8 raolng upon a 

public street or streeta.* Dee f*olnea va. 

Dorr, 31 Iowa 89, 93. 
285 

Eon. Part Ford, Pege 4 

*Any side or face of a buildllng la the 

front, although the word is Itore oamonly 

used to denote the entranoe alde.... Packrront, rear-front, or four fronts of a house 

em all terms in comon use - and there la 

no reason why a building should not *front* 

on two, three or four streets, or that two, 

three or four streets should not be 'in front 

thereof'1 all such streets would, I think, 

Voonfront.* the building." Re Dianlok, 3 Cnt 

1 11 1061 - Note 4(a) 27 Corpus Jurla, page 

910. 

'The *front property line', wlthln the 

restrlatlon of deed6 of property platted 

into lots that no building shall be erected 

wlthih 20 feet of the front proparty line 

of any street, includes, in the case of a 

corner lot, the line of the street on which 

is the aide of the lot, es well es the line 

of the street on which the lot faoe8.e 

9catera vs. Collins (R. J. Ch.) 70 Atl. 984, 

citing Des Yolnes vs. Dorr, 31 Iowa, aa, 93. 

Xe think the term "front door" should be aon- 

.atrued ao aa to give effect to the language wed in Seotlon 25 (a) of Article 2 of the Texas liquor Control Act 

and ao aa to give effect to the evident intention of the 

Legislature in the passage of the aot. In aooordance 

with auoh oonstruotion we think it was the intention of 

the Iaglalatve to allow the governing authority of 

oitlea, towns a%d countlea the right to prohibit the sale 

of alcoholic beverages by any deele- -&ore the plaae of 

buelneas of such dealer was nlhlh the prohibited distance 

frar. a church, public school or hospital, using the basis 

of rueeaurement outlined by tte statute. 

vie think the term "front door" es uaed in said 

atetute mane any outside entrhnoe door facing or fronting a public street. Therefore a church, aohool, hospital 

or liquor dealer*8 place of bualnese could have one or 

kore "front doora*', dependent upon the facts in the case. 

:.7e think there shculd be at least 300 feet between tha 
286 

Hon. Hert ?ord, Page S 

*rrfm door’* or any 0r the 'rront doors" of suoh places, 

using the sy8t.m of Eeamremcnt outlined by the statute. 

Viith rererenoe to the faete stated in your 

letter We are of the opinion that the Vert door of the 

ahapel”, a8 reterred to in your letter, is the *'front 

door” or said ohepel. 

You tiate in your letter that the building i8 

a two-story building a&I that no part or the buildiig ir 

wed for church purpose8 exoept the ohapel which i8 on the 

~ouor rloor. You a180 rtate that. th b ildi 

ifoor o~~nnino rrcm the 8treet known ai tube nc% 

ha8 another 

dooF. 

whioh 2088 not open dfreatly into the chapel, but open8 

into n hall from which the &air8 lead to the seaond 

rloor. There ir also another door whioh lead8 from the 

hall into the chapel. 38 think that the sea& dooP 

de8oribed In your letter 16 not a Cart of the chapel end 

ib l?ot % *front door" or the chapel. Ke think that the 

lnr.er door leading lrcm the hall into the ohepel 18 not 

a Front door" of the chapel beoauee the oame la not an 

outside door racing the 8tre.t. 

Very truly your8 

ATTamY GEmm. OF TImis 

Wm. J. FarmIng dsUf 8tCUlt