The gush of controversy over selling beer in South Salt Lake appears now to be a trickle.
The South Salt Lake City Council is to consider a revised ordinance at its meeting tonight that would allow bars, taverns and private clubs within the city to sell alcohol on Sundays, which previously had not been permitted under an ordinance no one seemed to know anything about.
Bar owners received reminders before the Oct. 4 primary elections that they couldn't sell alcohol while polls were open; with that reminder was also a note about the Aug. 24 ordinance that prohibited alcohol sales on Sunday. Alarmed bar owners sought an explanation from the city — the majority of them said they had no knowledge of the ordinance and wanted to know why it had been passed.
The City Council put the rule on hold at its Oct. 13 meeting after talking to the business owners, and then council members hammered out a revision during a work meeting Nov. 2. This evening's meeting is to include a vote on the proposed ordinance that came out of the Nov. 2 meeting.
South Salt Lake City Attorney David Carlson and Council Chairman Bob Gray did not return phone calls seeking comment Tuesday.
The revised ordinance removes the Sunday prohibition and tightens up some rules about selling businesses with alcohol licenses.
Aimee Williams, owner of The Dawg Pound Tavern on State Street, said Sunday sales are 20 to 25 percent of her business during football season.
"Football is the American game, and people like to watch it," Williams said. "I really cater to the guys who come into my bar. They're blue-collar workers who come into the bar, and they want to root (with) their friends. It's a pretty big camaraderie that happens on a Sunday."
Sunday booze sales are only part of the equation for bar owners, Williams said. She and other bar owners are forming a nonprofit association they hope will help advocate for their businesses and contribute some service to South Salt Lake.
The council also changed the number of liquor licenses for taverns from one per 850 residents to one in 1,500, dropping the valid licenses from around 26 to about 15. The 24 businesses already with licenses will be able to retain and renew them, but the city won't grant new licenses until the numbers drop below the new threshold. Owners who want to sell their license with their business can now do so, "as long as the new owner meets all other qualifications imposed by state law and this ordinance," the proposed revision reads.
Williams said she and other owners are pleased with the city's quick reaction to their concerns.
"I feel very confident in what we've been able to accomplish by the people actually gathering and standing together," Williams said. "I feel I'm very pleased, actually, with the council's willingness to talk to their citizens and the business owners in their community. They made a concerted effort to try to make amends for a mistake that happened."
E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com