My Brewery Can’t Be Where in South Carolina?

Location, location, location – from buying a home to picking a day care, location is always important. However, when it comes to breweries and distilleries in South Carolina, location can literally mean the difference between life and death (as in the life or death of your operation). Imagine the euphoria you feel after just signing the lease on your new location for your life’s dream, your very own brewery, then you walk outside the back door to your car and run straight into a playground – not good. South Carolina is particular about the placements of its breweries and distilleries. Understanding where you can and cannot locate your life’s dream could avoid a lot of potential headache in the future.

South Carolina law prohibits breweries and distilleries from operating within 300 feet of any church, school or playground within a municipality or within 500 feet of any church, school or playground outside a municipality.

Churches, schools and playgrounds are defined by South Carolina law as follows:

• “‘Church’, an establishment, other than a private dwelling, where religious services are usually conducted.” S.C. Code Ann. § 61-6-120(A)(1).
• “‘School’, an establishment, other than a private dwelling where the usual processes of education are usually conducted.” S.C. Code Ann. § 61-6-120(A)(2).
• “‘Playground’, a place, other than grounds at a private dwelling, which is provided by the public or members of a community for recreation.” S.C. Code Ann. § 61-6-120(A)(3).

The good news is that the distance is not measured by the old southern adage – as the crow flies – but “by following the shortest route of ordinary pedestrian or vehicular travel along the public thoroughfare from the nearest point of the grounds in use as part” of a church, school or playground. S.C. Code Ann. § 61-6-120(A). In short, the distance is measured by how you would normally walk or drive (as long as you do not normally walk or drive through other folks’ backyards or parking lots).

When it comes to churches and schools, the distance is measured from the nearest entrance of the brewery or distillery to the “grounds” of the church or school. The “grounds” of a church or school are limited to the area immediately surrounding the building which provides ingress or egress to the building. S.C. Code Regs. 7-303. It does not include grounds used for beautification, cemeteries or any other purpose other than to leave the public thoroughfare and enter or leave the building. S.C. Code Regs. 7-303.

As far as playgrounds go, the distance is measured from the grounds actually in use as a playground, and the grounds necessary for ingress and egress to those grounds from the public thoroughfare. S.C. Code Regs. 7-303.

So what happens when a church, playground or school pops up beside your currently operating and properly licensed brewery or distillery? South Carolina law provides that the restrictions of S.C. Code Ann. § 61-6-120 do not apply to the renewal of licenses or when new applications are submitted for locations that are licensed at the time the new application is filed with the South Carolina Department of Revenue.

In short, do your homework and keep your eyes open when looking at new locations for your brewery or distillery. Sometimes the most important thing to consider is not what is inside a building, but what is around it.