Untitled Texas Attorney General Opinion

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS AUSTIN Bonoreble Bert Ford &dminirtrator,‘Texsa Liquor Control Board Aurtln, Texas Pear Sirr hs from your letter an oplnlon of this lth the Texas LLquor y pawrilt SOr premlaa8 Yard, in the oity of Lty of Austin am wet for Pager 60 Iar a6 looal the city bt Austkn has &tlinanee whioh airi& th6 cone8 A, B, or 0, eta. n for whloh the above mentioned P@dl&al 6 e#e, that 16 pramires at 9807-9 6an ie510eated In “Ca oommeroL6l dlstrlat. hibite all bulldlngr and laad LR *C* ot iroe bting uried for forty-one Blitereat ‘The sale, storage. diapsnsing, or ior on site or off sfte ooneurPptlon.i “The appllomt oontandrr that beoausle o’i the zoning ordinanos he is entltlad to the asdio¶..nal phammay permnait upon ppllylng the @O.OO rQf3whlah is the trse pmriaed by the above quote& rtatute for a medlelnal pharmay gsrrnit In dry areaa. sonorabls &rt Ford, page 2 “It Is the oontentlon of the Board that the appli- oant should be made to pay the annual fee QmYided for paoknge etores In the olty of AuLurtln, Travla County, Teur, in aaoordanoe with the above quoted provielonr of the Texas Liquor Control A&. I. . . *Your valued opinion lo derlred on the proporltion of whst is the proper fee to be &fmgQd the applrleant ior a MedloLnal Phamaoy Permit in thlr ease.* 6eo. 15, Subreo. (18), Artlole 1, Texar Liquor Oon- tml Aat, provides In part as follows: *The annual permit ice for a NedIoLnal Permit to pharmaoler in dry areas shall be Flfty Dollars ($50.00) and in wet arear the annual ire ohill be the same aa the annual fee for a paakago rtom.* f%10. 15, Subreo. (81, paragraph (01, in part, provlderr ‘The annual fee for a paakage store in 6itiar and townr shall be bared upon the population recording to the laet preoedlng Federal Cenlru8 aa rOlLOW ‘Population Fee 25,000 or lQ8ll 25,001 to 75,000 75,001 or awe Bee. 18, 5ubreo. (161, Artlole 1 o? the aot, provider: a (18) XefAiolnal Permita. Ret&l Pharaaohts hall be entitled to receive permits and oell or dlr- penes liquor for medioinal OOQS only. . . .’ Sea. 23, Art. 1 of eatd aot, dofIning the term “Dry* and *WetP area@, In part, provideer Whenever the term ‘dry brea* Ie used In thle rot it ahall mea,n and refer to all @auntlea, Jurtloe preainotr, inoarporated oitlerr or towns wherein the oale of aloohollo beverages had been prohibited by valIQ local option eleationr held under the lawe of the State In topoe at the tkms of the taking effeot of mlon 20, Article 16, ~onrtltutlon of Texas, in the year 1919. It liksw%ae ahall mean and refer to any ruah area8 where @ale OS euah aloohcl.Io bevrragem shsJ.l be prohibited under the term6 0r thke aot. *The term Iwet area’ shall mean and, refer to all QthW areas of the State.’ Honorable Bert Ford, page 3 The only "dry area" reoognized by the provisions of the Texas Liquor Control Act are those areas that fall under the gWIiSiOnS of S8OtiOn 23, ArtiOle 1, Bupra, wnenerein ndry areas" and "wet areas" are &3fined. 2.zoilinsof a portion of a oity "dry" by ordinance is neither under the provisions of the act nor does it operate to affeat rnedioinalpermits issued to pharmacies, the granting of which has always been regulated by the State authorities. We think the meaning of the term "wet areas' as set forth in the statute, by which the fee for medicinal permits are to be determined, is broad enough to include any area not reao se6 as a *dry area*Iend so determined under or reoog- nizeivby the grovlsions of the Texas Liquor Control Aot. By Yubseotion (18) of Seotlon 15 of the sot, it is provided that Retail Pharmacists shall be entitled to receive medioinal permits and self or dispense liquor for medlolnal purposes. It is therefore the opinion of this Department that the pharmaoy looated in ths desoribed zoned portion of the olty oi Austin, aooording to your letter, should be required to pay the annual fee in accord with the SOhedUl8 set forth in Se&ion 15, Subeeotion (8), Article 1, Texas Liquor Control Aot, for issuing a paokage store permit. Yours very truly King tant