It's no secret that the South Salt Lake City council has a problem with beer. In '03 they officially placed into law a ban on home brewing. A ban they they had no intention of enforcing. Then they wanted to shut down bars on Sunday because, Well... why not? it's Sunday! You should be begging for your soul, not watching football and having beer. That failed.Now the mayor and council is pursuing it's next richeous ban. According to police statistics, Salt Lake has the valley's highest crime rate and has about two dozen active Tavern licenses. A few years ago, the City Council capped those licenses at 15, hoping to trim the number of taverns. They intended as bars folded, they would not issue new permits. Well bars in the city didn't fold like they thought they would and those who did want to sell they're business simply transferred their beer licenses to bar buyers. Now the council, possibly as soon as Wednesday, hopes to prohibit such transfers and thus, over time, slash the number of bars.
This issue was addressed a few years ago and obviously didn't go over well with bar owners. It will likely happen again. But this time I believe it will pass. The council will base it's decision on the number of tavern-related crime in South Salt Lake. This will be the councils main source of ammo in the fight.
Now to play Devil's Advocate, the city has 26 bars and private clubs to serve a population of 26,000. Not a bad ratio. I think the county I live in has only 10 tops. South Salt Lake's effort to cut back on bars comes up for further discussion, and a possible vote, at Wednesday's 7 p.m. City Council meeting at City Hall, 220 E. Morris Ave. (2430 South).
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