Com., Liquor Control Bd. v. Starr
| Decision Date | 29 July 1974 |
| Citation | 318 A.2d 763,13 Pa.Cmwlth. 415 |
| Parties | COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD, Appellant, v. Earl I. and Mildred W. STARR, James E. Hylton t/a Valley View Bottling Works, Appellees. COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania LIQUOR CONTROL BOARD, Appellant, v. William T. LEWIS, II, t/a Nelson Beer Distributors, Appellee. |
| Court | Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court |
Robert E. Woodside, Shearer, Mette, Hoerner & Woodside, Harrisburg, on amicus curiae brief of the Pa. Importing Masters Distributors' Ass'n supporting the appellant.
Bashore & Lindsay, George G. Lindsay, Pottsville, for appellee.
Lawrence Sager, Pottstown, on amicus curiae brief.
Before CRUMLISH, Jr., KRAMER, WILKINSON, MENCER, ROGERS and BLATT, JJ.
This appeal concerns the interpretation and application of Section 431(b) of the Liquor Code, Act of April 12, 1951, P.L. 90, as amended, 47 P.S. § 4--431(b). This section provides as follows:
'Each out of State manufacturer of malt or brewed beverages whose products are sold and delivered in this Commonwealth shall give distributing rights for such products in designated geographical areas to specific importing distributors, and such importing distributor shall not sell or deliver malt or brewed beverages manufactured by the out of State manufacturer to any person issued a license under the provisions of this act whose licensed premises are not located within the geographical area for which he has been given distributing rights by such manufacturer: Provided, That the importing distributor holding such distributing rights for such product shall not sell or deliver the same to another importing distributor without first having entered into A written agreement with the said secondary importing distributor setting forth the terms and conditions under which such products are to be resold within the territory granted to the primary importing distributor by the manufacturer.' (Emphasis added.)
Section 441(e) of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. § 4--441(e) further provides:
'(e) No distributor or importing distributor shall purchase, sell, resell, receive or deliver any malt or brewed beverages, except in strict compliance with the provisions of subsection (b) of section 431 of this act.'
The essential facts in this consolidated appeal are undisputed. The appellee, William T. Lewis, II, trading as Nelson Beer Distributor (Nelson), was licensed by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (Board) as an importing distributor. 1 He bought his malt or brewed beverages from licensed primary importing distributors who were supplied by out-of-state manufacturers; thus, Nelson was a secondary importing distributor and in his resales was clearly governed by the above cited sections. The Board found, however, that Nelson had sold and/or delivered malt or brewed beverages to Dauphin County licensees, although this County was not in the area assigned to the primary importing distributor by the manufacturers. Nelson was fined $100, in a summary proceeding, pursuant to Section 494 of the Liquor Code, 47 P.S. § 4--494, but the Schuylkill County Court of Common Pleas vacated judgment, asserting that the Liquor Code provisions were not violated.
The Board has appealed to this Court, contending that the statute prohibits a secondary importing distributor from selling malt or brewed beverages anywhere but in the 'designated geographical areas' which have been assigned by the manufacturer to the primary importing distributor for the particular products of the manufacturer. The appellee argues, however, that the statute merely requires that the primary importing distributor may impose terms and conditions in a written agreement upon the secondary importing distributor only when the products are sold within the primary's designated geographical area. The statute, it is claimed, does not prohibit or restrict resales by the secondary outside the limited area of the primary. The secondary contends, as the appellee here, therefore, that the primary could have imposed restrictions on him within the designated geographical area but that he was free to resell without restriction in Dauphin County which, in this case, was outside the primary's designated area.
We must disagree with the appellee's contention and hold, with the Board, that the statute must be interpreted to restrict the secondary importing distributor to the designated geographical area assigned to the primary importing distributor.
The regulation of the liquor industry has been expressly reserved to the states by the Twenty-first Amendment of the United States Constitution. In any interpretation of the Liquor Code we must note, therefore, that the control of the sale and use of alcoholic beverages is absolutely within the police powers of the Commonwealth and that the Privilege 2 of obtaining a liquor license is subject to the requirements of the Legislature. Tahiti Bar, Inc. Liquor License Case, 395 Pa. 355, 150 A.2d 112 (1959), appeal dismissed, 361 U.S. 85, 80 S.Ct. 159, 4 L.Ed.2d 116 (1959); Spankard's Liquor License Case, 138...
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