Title: Ex Parte Ala. Alcoholic Bev. Control Bd.
Citation: 819 So. 2d 50
Docket Number: 1992121
State: Alabama
Issuer: Alabama Supreme Court
Date: June 29, 2001

819 So. 2d 50 (2001)
Ex parte ALABAMA ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGE CONTROL BOARD.
(In re State Alcoholic Beverage Control Board v. Sussan Nejat Shabani d/b/a Short Cut Food Mart).
1992121.

Supreme Court of Alabama.
June 29, 2001.
Robert S. Hill, asst. atty. gen., Alabama Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, for petitioner.
William D. Hudson, Gadsden, for respondent.
*51 WOODALL, Justice.
The Court of Civil Appeals affirmed the judgment of the Etowah Circuit Court that ordered the Alcoholic Beverage Control Board ("ABC Board") to issue to Sussan Nejat Shabani d/b/a Short Cut Food Mart ("Shabani") a license to sell beer for off-premises consumption. Alcoholic Beverage Control Bd. v. Shabani, 819 So. 2d 46 (Ala.Civ.App.2000). The ABC Board petitioned this Court for certiorari review, contending that the Court of Civil Appeals had improperly substituted its judgment for that of the ABC Board. We granted the petition, and we reverse and remand.
The Court of Civil Appeals set forth in its opinion the factual and legal history of this case:
819 So. 2d  at 47-48.
The Court of Civil Appeals accurately summarized the standard for judicial review of a denial of a license by the ABC Board in Davis v. Alcoholic Beverage Control Bd., 636 So. 2d 448, 449 (Ala.Civ. App.1994):
Under this standard, the relevant issue is whether the ABC Board's denial of Shabani's application for an off-premises beer license was "clearly erroneous, unreasonable, arbitrary, capricious, or an abuse of discretion." It was not.
The ABC Board derives its authority to issue a retail beer license for off-premises consumption from § 28-3A-17, Ala.Code 1975, which provides:
(Emphasis supplied.)
When Shabani applied for an off-premises beer license, the Gadsden City Council denied the application as an expansion of a nonconforming use, which was not permitted under its zoning ordinances. Its action was an appropriate restriction of any such expansion. See Fulford v. Board of Zoning Adjustment of City of Dothan, 256 Ala. 336, 54 So. 2d 580 (1951) (the sale of beer in a restaurant in a residential area would be an unauthorized extension of that nonconforming business under Dothan's zoning ordinance). The ABC Board properly denied Shabani's application on the basis that the license would expand a nonconforming use in violation of a valid zoning ordinance.
The trial court and the Court of Civil Appeals improperly restricted the City of Gadsden's interpretation of its zoning ordinances. *53 The Court of Civil Appeals stated:
819 So. 2d  at 49. However, this Court has noted the "material distinction between the strictly restaurant business and the retail beer business and between the sale of coffee, tea, milk and soft drinks as an incident to the sale of food and the sale of intoxicating beverages." Fulford, 256 Ala. at 339, 54 So. 2d  at 582. Although the trial court referred to beer as simply another "product line," it is clear that "intoxicating liquors are in a class by themselves and not to be regarded as one of the ordinary commodities of food or other harmless products." Id. While Fulford dealt with the sale of beer for on-premises consumption, the applicable standard of review does not permit a court to require a municipality to allow the expansion of a nonconforming use through the issuance of a license for the sale of beer for off-premises consumption.
The trial court erred in ordering the ABC Board to issue a license to Shabani to sell beer for off-premises consumption. The Court of Civil Appeals erred in affirming the judgment of the trial court as to the issuance of the license. Therefore, we reverse the judgment of the Court of Civil Appeals and remand the case for an order or further proceedings consistent with this opinion.
REVERSED AND REMANDED.
MOORE, C.J., and HOUSTON, SEE, BROWN, HARWOOD, and STUART, JJ., concur.
LYONS, J., concurs specially.
LYONS, Justice (concurring specially).
I join the majority opinion and concur specially. The defect in the opinion of the Court of Civil Appeals lies in its refusal to allow the ABC Board to accept the City's application of its ordinance. The ABC Board acts pursuant to § 28-3A-17, Ala. Code 1975, which allows it to issue a license for retail sale of beer for off-premises consumption where such a use is not prohibited by a valid municipal zoning ordinance. The City refused to issue a license to Shabani to sell beer off-premises because the City's zoning ordinances condemned the expansion of a nonconforming use. That determination was never challenged in a proceeding against the City. The City is not a party to this proceeding. Under the standard of review applicable to actions of the ABC Board, it is not appropriate for a court to convert an application to the ABC Board for the issuance of a license into a proceeding to review a city's previous adverse determination as to the effect of its zoning ordinance.