Opinion ID: 1699909
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the bottle club act: scope and purpose

Text: A bottle club is typically described as [a] place where no intoxicating liquors are sold but in which a member may keep his liquor for consumption on the premises and in which mixes or so-called `set-ups' are provided by the club. Black's Law Dictionary (5th ed), p 168, citing Mutchall v Kalamazoo, 323 Mich 215; 35 NW2d 245 (1948). Originally, the Michigan Liquor Control Commission did not regulate bottle clubs. In 1949, the following bottle club act was promulgated: No person shall maintain, operate, lease or otherwise furnish to other persons any premises or place which is not licensed under this act, wherein such other persons may engage in the drinking of alcoholic beverages, for a fee or for any other consideration, including the sale of food, mixers, ice or other fluids used with alcoholic drinks or the storage of alcoholic liquors: Provided, That the provisions of this section shall not apply to any hotel nor to any licensee under the provisions of this act: Provided further, That the provisions of this section shall not be construed to repeal or amend the provisions of section 26b of this act. [1949 PA 295, MCL 436.26c; MSA 18.997(3).] In Moraco v Wayne Co Prosecutor, 98 Mich App 322; 296 NW2d 246 (1980), at issue was whether plaintiff's unlicensed restaurant constituted a bottle club. Plaintiffs sold dinners at the restaurant for a fixed price and permitted customers to bring their own wine which they consumed from plaintiff's glasses. The Court of Appeals concluded that the sale of food did not make the establishment subject to § 26c since no extra money passed to the owners as a result of patrons furnishing their own alcohol and stated, [h]ad the Legislature wished to prohibit plaintiff's activity it could have explicitly done so. Id., p 327. Shortly thereafter, the Legislature amended the act to read as follows: (1) A person shall not maintain, operate, lease, or otherwise furnish to any person, any premises or place which is not licensed under this act, where the other person may engage in the drinking of alcoholic liquor for any consideration. (2) A person shall not consume alcoholic liquor in a commercial establishment selling food if the commercial establishment is not licensed under this act. A person owning, operating, or leasing a commercial establishment selling food which is not licensed under this act shall not allow the consumption of alcoholic liquor on its premises. (3) This section shall not apply to any hotel or any licensee under this act. (4) This section shall not be construed to repeal or amend section 26b. (5) As used in this section, consideration includes any fee, cover charge, the storage of alcoholic liquor, the sale of food, ice, mixers, or other liquids used with alcoholic liquor drinks, or the furnishing of glassware or other containers for use in the consumption of alcoholic liquor in conjunction with the sale of food. [1980 PA 185. Emphasis added.] Unlicensed commercial establishments selling food were strictly prohibited from allowing the consumption of alcohol on those premises in response to the situation in Moraco v Wayne Co Prosecutor, supra , where the consideration for the privilege and accommodation of the alcohol consumption was included in the price of the meal. By this amendment, the Legislature intended to assist in the enforcement of the bottle club act, and thus to protect the integrity of the franchise given to licensed establishments. Subjecting all unlicensed commercial establishments selling food to criminal penalties seeks to eliminate the risk that the consideration paid for the consumption of alcohol will be included in the price of the food. Hence, giving it a plain reading, the statute permits unlicensed commercial halls or facilities to allow persons on their premises to consume alcoholic liquor which the persons have provided for themselves as long as the commercial hall or facility does not require any consideration for that privilege and as long as the commercial hall or facility does not sell food. Unlicensed nonprofit halls or facilities may also permit persons on their premises to furnish and consume their own alcohol provided that no additional consideration as defined in the statute is exchanged for that privilege. In rejecting a constitutional challenge that the act's purpose was not within the title of the Liquor Control Act, the Court in Beacon Club v Kalamazoo Co Sheriff, 332 Mich 412, 421; 52 NW2d 165 (1952), summarized the purpose of § 26c: Its purpose was, as the language used clearly indicates, to regulate the use of intoxicating liquors. To that end the furnishing of premises not licensed under the act where liquor may be consumed and the sale of food and other articles to promote drinking thereon were forbidden. The inhibition was not directed in terms against the traffic in liquor or the use thereof, but rather against the owners and operators of unlicensed premises. The regulation imposed is analogous to other provisions of the liquor control act relating to the granting of licenses for locations within a certain distance from churches or school buildings, forbidding sales to minors, and imposing restraints on the furnishing of alcoholic liquor on Sundays and election days and on drinking on public highways and in certain other public places.[ [4] ] In disposing of appellants' equal protection challenge that the statute created an unreasonable classification by excluding licensees and hotels from its operation, the Court reiterated that the purpose of the statute was the proper control of liquor traffic in the manner authorized and contemplated by the constitution of the state. 332 Mich 426. We agree with the Court's construction of the statute. As part of the alcohol regulatory scheme, the bottle club act protects against the inherent dangers of alcohol by bringing the serving of alcohol for profit under strict regulations. The strictures of the statute are directed toward nonlicensed premises owners who may profit from the activity of alcohol consumption without obtaining a license. It is not the amount of alcohol consumed, or the service of alcohol to a visibly intoxicated person or minor that is controlled under the act, but the source of alcohol and where it is consumed. The bottle club statute's purpose is to maintain complete and exclusive control of liquor traffic in a Liquor Control Commission established by the Legislature.