Alcoholic beverages: additional licenses: hospitality zone.

The separate definition of 'retail district' (an area in San Francisco with at least 1,000,000 square feet of retail shopping space) is deleted entirely. Only the 'hospitality zone' definition remains.

All references to 'retail district hospitality zone' throughout the bill are replaced with 'hospitality zone,' simplifying the language in the license issuance provisions, ordinance requirements, transfer restrictions, and other sections.

The bill was designated as Chapter 412 and the Governor's approval date of October 6, 2025 was recorded.

Document formatting changed from enrolled bill layout (with Senate/Assembly passage headers, page footers, and signature block) to authenticated electronic legal material format with standardized chaptered pagination.

The document was reformatted from a chaptered PDF layout (with page numbers, running headers like 'Ch. 412', and traditional legislative formatting) to a web-based presentation that includes site navigation elements, bill metadata (version history, publication date), and a digest key section showing vote type, appropriation status, fiscal committee review, and local program designation.

A new definition of 'hospitality zone' is added: an area in San Francisco designated by ordinance on or after January 1, 2026, containing at least 1,000,000 square feet of retail shopping space open to the public. Only one hospitality zone may be designated. The term is used throughout the bill in combination with 'retail district' (e.g., 'retail district hospitality zone').

A new provision prohibits a license issued under this section from being sold or transferred for a price greater than the original fee paid by the seller or transferor. This creates a price cap that prevents license holders from profiting on resale beyond what they originally paid.

The geographic restriction on license transfers is made more specific: licenses can no longer be transferred to 'premises not qualifying under this section' but specifically to 'premises location outside of the hospitality zone or otherwise not qualifying under this section,' tying the transfer restriction explicitly to the hospitality zone boundaries.

The new code section was renumbered from Section 23826.21 to Section 23826.22 of the Business and Professions Code, likely to avoid a numbering conflict with another bill.

Assembly Member Gipson was added as a coauthor of the bill.

A new subdivision (j) was added stating that the department shall not issue any license under this section after July 1, 2033, creating a hard sunset on the program's authority to issue additional licenses.