The state board that oversees alcohol sales has approved building a liquor store in Riverton, despite city officials' opposition to the plan.
State Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control commissioners voted 2-1 on Wednesday to approve the site in a planned shopping center at 12600 South and Bangerter Highway. The new store will be built as part of a shopping center planned for the site, which will be anchored by a Lowe's home-improvement store.
Commissioner Kathryn Balmforth cast the lone vote against the proposal, saying she wasn't sure the commission was giving the City Council's opposition enough weight. The council in February approved a resolution, on a 3-2 vote, asking the department not to build a liquor store anywhere within city limits.
But the department was under a legislative mandate to build a new store somewhere in the Salt Lake Valley's southwest. There are only three liquor stores south of 2100 South and west of Interstate 15. The store located the farthest south is at 5400 South and Bangerter Highway.
The department's director of operations, Dennis Kellen, said the commissioners are required by state law to make decisions that attempt to balance the wishes of the drinking public to have convenient places to buy alcohol and those of non-drinkers who want to keep the booze away. While that calls for the commission to consult with local governments, he said it does not require their approval.
"If the commission asked every community whether or not the community leaders wanted a liquor store located there, there probably wouldn't be very many liquor stores in the state," Kellen said earlier this week.
Rep. Dave Hogue, R-Riverton, asked commissioners Wednesday to consider holding off on making the decision. He suggested meeting with city leaders in Riverton, Herriman and Bluffdale to determine whether the store could be built somewhere outside Riverton.
"I just believe there could be another location," Hogue said, pointing out that the proposed site is near a handful of churches, a school and the planned sites for a hospital and a recreation center — although they are all far enough away from the liquor-store site to satisfy state law.
Commissioner Nicholas Hales said he believes residents will find the new store to be a good neighbor. "I've lived 30 years in a neighborhood where there's a liquor store six blocks away, smack-dab in the middle of a residential area, and there's been no problem."
The department began looking for Riverton sites with the support of former Mayor Mont Evans three years ago. However, Mayor Bill Applegarth, who took office in January, believes the department is trampling the rights of a city to determine what goes into a community.
The department, unlike other commercial entities, can build liquor stores wherever it wants, without city approval, as long as they are in areas zoned for commercial use and are at least 600 feet from a church, school or park, according to state law. All liquor stores in Utah are state-run.
Kellen said that while the new store is planned for a very busy intersection, it won't be visible from either of the major roads that pass by it. That decision was made as a direct result of Riverton's resistance to the plan.
"I doubt that unless you're looking for the liquor store that you'll even know that it's there," he said.
E-mail: dsmeath@desnews.com