Council may vote on bar ordinance Tuesday

After months of tinkering with an ordinance allowing neighborhood bars to serve hard liquor, Salt Lake City leaders could raise their glasses to the change on Cinco de Mayo.

The City Council is eyeing its Tuesday, May 5, meeting to make a decision whether to allow private clubs in residential mixed-use zones — and what requirements those bars must meet.

"We've got to get this done," Councilman JT Martin said Tuesday, as the council discussed the details of the proposed ordinance.

In previous meetings, the council considered requirements ranging from cameras to mandatory breathalyzer tests, but both have since been nixed from the list.

Under the current list of conditions, the city would require clubs to provide a detailed security and operations plan and meet with neighbors on a regular basis.

Light and sign limits would minimize the impact on neighbors, council members said, as would a required buffer that would include landscaping or a wall.

Live music and outside speakers would also be limited, and noise from the club should not be heard beyond 15 feet, according to the proposed ordinance.

And outside trash, including cigarettes, must be picked up before 6 a.m.

Lou Corsillo, who owns Andy's Place, a beer tavern near 500 East and 200 South, petitioned the city for the change.

"Beer bars just don't cut it anymore," Corsillo said.

Andy's Place sits in the city's largest RMU zone, which stretches from South Temple to 380 South and from 250 East to 550 East.

But the city's "deliberations are not just for this one isolated case," Councilman Luke Garrott said.

Marmalade District neighbors have been the most vocal in opposing the change. The owners of Club Jam, a bar in a mixed-use zone at 751 N. 300 West, have applied for a similar ordinance change. And neighbors believe if Andy's Place gets the change, Club Jam will follow.

Proponents of the change have said neighborhood bars promote walkability and would cut down on drunken driving. Others, however, said increasing the availability of alcohol would harm neighborhoods, especially young children.

E-mail: afalk@desnews.com