4.1-128 - Local ordinances or resolutions regulating or taxing alcoholic beverages. - Virginia Statutes

§ 4.1-128. Local ordinances or resolutions regulating or taxing alcoholicbeverages.

A. No county, city, or town shall, except as provided in § 4.1-205 or §4.1-129, adopt any ordinance or resolution which regulates or prohibits themanufacture, bottling, possession, sale, wholesale distribution, handling,transportation, drinking, use, advertising or dispensing of alcoholicbeverages in the Commonwealth. Nor shall any county, city, or town adopt anordinance or resolution that prohibits or regulates the storage, warehousing,and wholesaling of wine in accordance with Title 4.1, regulations of theAlcoholic Beverage Control Board, and federal law at a licensed farm winery.

No provision of law, general or special, shall be construed to authorize anycounty, city or town to adopt any ordinance or resolution that imposes asales or excise tax on alcoholic beverages, other than the taxes authorizedby §§ 58.1-605, 58.1-3833 or § 58.1-3840. The foregoing limitation shall notaffect the authority of any county, city or town to impose a license orprivilege tax or fee on a business engaged in whole or in part in the sale ofalcoholic beverages if the license or privilege tax or fee (i) is based on anannual or per event flat fee specifically authorized by general law or (ii)is an annual license or privilege tax specifically authorized by general law,which includes alcoholic beverages in its taxable measure and treatsalcoholic beverages the same as if they were nonalcoholic beverages.

B. However, the governing body of any county, city, or town may adopt anordinance which (i) prohibits the acts described in subsection A of § 4.1-308subject to the provisions of subsection B of § 4.1-308, or the acts describedin § 4.1-309 and may provide a penalty for violation thereof and (ii) subjectto subsection C of § 4.1-308, regulates or prohibits the possession of openedalcoholic beverage containers in its local public parks, playgrounds, publicstreets, and any sidewalk adjoining any public street.

C. Except as provided in this section, all local acts, including charterprovisions and ordinances of cities and towns, inconsistent with any of theprovisions of this title, are repealed to the extent of such inconsistency.

(Code 1950, § 4-98; 1983, c. 340; 1993, c. 866; 2000, cc. 381, 450; 2007, cc.140, 454.)