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SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — A longtime requirement that some Utah restaurants have a barrier at least 7 feet tall around their bars could be repealed under a state lawmaker's plan in exchange for raising alcohol prices in the state and tightening other liquor laws.
House Majority Leader Brad Wilson, a Republican, said Tuesday that his plan would do away with the barriers often referred to a Zion Curtain, a nickname for the Utah-based Mormon church, which instructs members to abstain from drinking alcohol.
Wilson, of Kaysville, has not yet unveiled his legislation, but said that as a trade-off for removing the barriers, his bill would increase the 86 percent markup at state-run liquor stores by several percentage points to pay for enforcement and training of restaurant workers. It would also include provisions designed to reduce underage drinking and drunken driving, two categories in which Utah already has some of the lowest rates in the country.
"This bill is about modernizing our alcohol policies so we can reflect opportunities to reduce drunk driving and underage drinking. And if at the same time, if we can be helpful to the hospitality industry, we want to do that," Wilson told KSL-TV.
Supporters have contended that the Zion Curtain keeps restaurants from looking like bars and curbs underage drinking by hiding what they say is glamorous bartending.
But for several years, a small group of lawmakers have tried to repeal the Zion Curtain rules, as the hospitality industry and other critics argue they're silly, serve no purpose and make restaurant operations difficult.
The barrier requirement has been in place for decades in some form and was preserved despite a major loosening of the state's liquor laws in 2009. Restaurants built before 2009 are generally exempt. The Utah Restaurant Association says most of the restaurants in Utah are grandfathered in and don't have the barriers, but the rule is unfairly applied and disadvantages newer establishments.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a huge presence in Utah and in the Legislature, where most lawmakers are members of the faith, has long played a big role in the state's liquor laws and has opposed past efforts to repeal the barrier rule.
Wilson said he's spoken with church leaders and believes they'll support the issue this time because his bill tightens other liquor laws.
Eric Hawkins, a spokesman for the LDS Church, said in a statement that the church "has historically worked to support legislation that advances the safety and wellbeing of all state residents, particularly minors, and to avoid the societal costs and harms that often result from alcohol excess consumption and abuse, underage drinking, and DUIs." He did not say whether the church would back the legislation but said any change in state law should not increase those alcohol abuses.
Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association, said the change is overdue and will help give restaurants a more familiar atmosphere for out-of-state visitors.
"It's time for adults to order an adult beverage without any stigma attached," Sine told The Salt Lake Tribune.
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