Neighborhood pubs in Salt Lake City? Not so fast, brother

Published July 18, 2012 11:04 am


Don't tap that keg yet.

Mayor Ralph Becker's proposal to overhaul Salt Lake City's decades-old alcohol zoning ordinance to allow, among other things, neighborhood pubs may be in trouble.


In Utah, when the words "alcohol" and "neighborhoods" are mixed together, the conversation can bubble over like a brew with too much head. Several dozen residents told the council in no uncertain terms that Becker's proposal that would allow neighborhood pubs would be destructive to residential areas.


Jon Dibble, a longtime resident of the neighborhood surrounding 1300 South and 2100 East, said adopting Becker's alcohol zoning regulations would be "destructive to neighborhoods."

Dibble said he's not against bars generally, but "we don't need bars in every residential neighborhood."

And, he said, in an interview, if the proposed ordinance were to pass, his neighborhood would become a "zoo."




"But we didn't plan bars on our doors and windows," she said referring to her belief that crime shoots up in areas where bars and pubs sell alcohol.


In an interview, Perschon said that "neighborhood pubs and neighborhood bars exist in every neighborhood in every city in the world."

Residents who conjured up horror stories surrounding pubs don't know what they are talking about and are "living in fear," he said.

"Living in fear doesn't create community and it doesn't create neighborhoods."


"We are trying to treat all neighborhoods the same," he said of the proposal. "When we look at some neighborhoods, it's not appropriate."

Council Chairman Soren Simonsen said he would appoint a subcommittee to study Luke's proposal.

In an interview, Becker's spokesman Art Raymond said that removing those zones from the proposed ordinance would defeat the purpose of zoning that seeks to create walkable neighborhoods.

"The intent was not so much go create pubs as it was to create the opportunity for economic development. It's a plus for walkable communities," Raymond said.
