Reindeer provision stays in ordinance

The Salt Lake City Council voted Tuesday to retain a provision in a city ordinance that allows for low-flying reindeer on Christmas Eve.

The issue arose from a routine rewrite of Title 16 of the city code dealing with general aviation in Salt Lake City. One provision of the code calls for small aircraft to maintain an altitude of more than 2,000 feet over the city. But there is one exception to that 2,000-foot provision:

"On Christmas Eve only, flying reindeer and any cargo they may be towing shall be exempt from the two-thousand-foot height restriction."

The Salt Lake City Department of Airports had recommended that the reindeer provision be deleted, saying the phrase was too lighthearted for a serious ordinance.

City Council members, however, were inundated with e-mails from people begging them to keep the phrase in the ordinance. In the end, the council voted to keep the reindeer provision.

"Once in a while, in life and in government, it's nice to have a little levity," councilman Carlton Christensen said.