Provides relative to the location of a premises for the issuance and revocation of an alcohol permit

House Bill 687 amends Louisiana's alcoholic beverage permitting statutes by expanding the list of protected locations and establishing a new automatic revocation mechanism. The bill adds "a residence located within a historic neighborhood" to the existing categories of protected premises, including public playgrounds, churches, synagogues, libraries, schools, day care centers, and correctional facilities. This addition applies to both high alcoholic content permits governed by R.S. 26:81 and low alcoholic content permits governed by R.S. 26:281, maintaining the existing three-hundred-foot minimum distance requirement measured either by sidewalk in municipalities or in a straight line outside municipalities. The bill also creates two new statutory sections, R.S. 26:81.2 and 281.2, which establish that when any commercially licensed premises situated within the protected three-hundred-foot radius is sold, the alcohol permit is automatically revoked as of the sale date, though the statute explicitly preserves the right to reapply for a new permit.

Alcohol permit holders and applicants face the most direct impact from this legislation. Current permit holders whose licensed premises fall within three hundred feet of historic neighborhood residences will have their permits automatically revoked if they sell their business, requiring them to navigate a new application process if they wish to continue operating. Prospective applicants will find it more difficult to obtain permits in areas near historic neighborhoods, as municipal and parish ordinances now incorporate this additional distance restriction. Municipalities and parishes must integrate historic neighborhood designations into their regulatory frameworks and ordinance enforcement mechanisms, potentially requiring clarification of which areas qualify as historic neighborhoods for purposes of the statute. Property owners in historic neighborhoods may see reduced commercial activity in their areas due to the expanded alcohol licensing restrictions, while those selling their commercial premises will trigger automatic permit revocation for the buyer, effectively preventing the continuation of alcohol sales at those locations without regulatory action.

This legislation operates within Louisiana's existing constitutional framework governing police power and local zoning regulations under Articles VI and VIII of the Louisiana Constitution, which permit municipalities and parishes to regulate commercial activity through ordinances. The bill preserves the existing distinction between municipal and unincorporated parish areas, maintaining the sidewalk-measurement methodology in subdivided areas while allowing straight-line measurement elsewhere, and it does not alter the exception for outside-municipality applicants when parish governing authorities and affected organizations waive opposition, except in the five specified parishes. The new automatic revocation provision in sections 81.2 and 281.2 creates a different regulatory mechanism than the existing distance-based denial under sections 81(C) and 281(C), as it revokes permits upon sale of the licensed premises rather than preventing initial issuance, and it contrasts with section 281(F), which protects permit holders when protected uses are subsequently constructed near their existing licenses.