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 protestantthat the city where this
petit is located he8 a v&lid ordinanoe pro-
hibitlng the looet’,onof a liquor establieh-
nent 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 tol-
lOWB3
**That, I a:IE
the County SW-
veyor 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 looat-
ed 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
oonforreto Section 25(a), krtlole
I, of the Texas I.lq’JorControl 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 retreatdirectly 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 nen-
tloned above la the door referred to in the
affidavit of the County Surveyor.
*The building also has another door open-
ing 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. ‘!%asecond 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 iianotatedPenal Code
read8 aa follows:
*The Coimlaaloners* Court 0r any county
ln the territory thereof outside incorporated
oitle8 and torn8 end the governing authorl-
tiea 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
neaaurementato be along the property lines
oi the street fronts and from front door to
rront door and in dlreat line aorosa interaec-
Mona where they ooour.
as we oonatrue your opinion request you are prl-
marlly interested in detenmlnlngwhich 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 deflni-
tlon of the term Wfront door-. However, we shall lllus-
trate 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
aterminableby it8 raolng upon a
public street or streeta.* Dee f*olneava.
Dorr, 31 Iowa 89, 93.
285
Eon. Part Ford, Pege 4
*Any side or face of a buildllngla the
front, although the word is Itoreoamonly
used to denote the entranoe alde.... Pack-
rront, 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 111061 - 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
9cateravs. 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-
.atruedao aa to give effect to the language wed in Seo-
tlon 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 rueeaurementoutlined by tte statute.
viethink the term "front door" es uaed in said
atetute mane any outside entrhnoe door facing or front-
ing 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.
think there shculd be at least 300 feet between tha
:.7e
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 ha8 another
ifoor o~~nninorrcm the 8treet known ai tube nc% 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.erdoor 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