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View recently adopted ordinances as of January 13, 2009 NOT YET CODIFIED OR INTEGRATED IN THIS SITE. (pdf file)

Ordinances enacted through January 13, 2009

Copyrighted by SANTA CLARA COUNTY CODE & Municipal Code Corporation, 1998.

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Sec. B13-38. Definitions.

For the purposes of this chapter, the following definitions shall apply:

(a) "Alcoholic beverage" shall mean alcohol, spirits, liquor, wine, beer, and every liquid or solid containing alcohol, spirits, wine, or beer containing one-half of one percent or more of alcohol by volume; and is fit for beverage purposes either alone or when diluted, mixed, or combined with other substances.

(b) "Juvenile" means any person under eighteen years of age.

(c) "Property" shall mean private property, rented residential premises, or rented commercial residences; including but not limited to a home, yard, garage, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, or other dwelling unit, or a hall or meeting room, whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied as a dwelling, party or other social function, and whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without compensation.

(d) "Response costs" means those reasonable and necessary costs directly incurred by the County for a response to an underage gathering, and include the cost of providing law enforcement, firefighting, and/or other emergency services at the scene of the underage gathering including but not limited to:

(1) Salaries and benefits of law enforcement and/or emergency personnel for the amount of time spent responding to, remaining at, or otherwise dealing with underage gatherings, and the administrative costs attributable to the response(s); and

(2) The cost of any medical treatment to or for any law enforcement personnel injured responding to, remaining at or leaving the scene of an underage gathering; and

(3) The cost of repairing any County equipment or property damage, and the cost of the use of any such equipment, in responding to, remaining at, or leaving the scene of an underage gathering.

(e) "Responsible person" shall mean a person or persons as defined below. A responsible person need not reside at, need not be present at, and need not have prior knowledge of an underage gathering as a prerequisite to a finding that the individual is a responsible person as defined by this section. Responsible person includes, but is not limited to:

(1) Owner(s) of the residence or other private property;

(2) A tenant or lessee of the residence or other private property;

(3) The landlord of the property when another person is responsible for the gathering;

(4) The person(s) in charge of the residence or other private property;

(5) The person(s) who organizes, supervises, officiates, conducts, allows, allows access to, or controls the gathering or any other person(s) accepting responsibility for such a gathering;

(6) The person(s) who provide alcoholic beverages at an underage gathering.

If a responsible person for the gathering is a juvenile, then the parents or guardians of that juvenile and the juvenile will be jointly and severally liable for the response costs incurred pursuant to this chapter. To incur liability for response costs imposed by this chapter, the responsible person for the underage gathering need not be present at the gathering that causes the response giving rise to the imposition of response costs. This chapter therefore imposes vicarious as well as direct liability upon a responsible person.

(f) "Residence or other private property" means a home, yard, apartment, condominium, hotel or motel room, other dwelling unit, a hall or meeting room, whether occupied on a temporary or permanent basis, whether occupied as a dwelling, party or other social function, and whether owned, leased, rented, or used with or without compensation.

(g) "Underage gathering" means a party or gathering of four or more persons at a property in the County at which alcoholic beverages are being consumed or possessed by one or more underage persons.

(h) "Underage person" shall mean any person under 21 years of age.

(Ord. No. NS-637, § 1, 10-14-08, eff. 1-1-09)

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