Bar law 'silly,' Rocky says

Five years after getting his "face bashed in," Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson still wants to lift a restriction on the number of bars allowed on a city block.

Anderson, whose 2001 effort failed after widespread criticism from bar owners, citizens and the City Council, resurrected the idea Saturday morning at a community meeting.

"Last time I talked about this I got my face bashed in," he said. "But the ordinance is an absolute anachronism."

He said increasing the concentration of bars would boost another big idea of his — a downtown arts district with a new 2,400-seat first-run Broadway theater and a renovated Utah Theatre on Main Street.

The ordinance, which allows no more than two taverns and bars on a city block face, is the "bad kind of law that comes from a bad situation many years ago," Anderson said. "It's an unnecessary and silly obstacle."

Council Chairman Dave Buhler said the council would look at whatever the mayor proposed but that Anderson shouldn't get his hopes up.

"If he has something to propose, he should propose it and we'll take a look at it," Buhler said. But "it's not on the top of my priority list."

To Anderson, the ordinance is an obstacle for an arts district downtown, which the city has been studying. Preliminary suggestions for the district include updating the Utah Theatre on Main Street to hold 800 to 1,400 people and building a new theater somewhere nearby that could host Broadway shows and larger productions.

Anderson said he has talked to private investors, although he would not name them, about developing a major landmark theater on architectural par with the City Library.

"We're trying to get our ducks lined up," he said.

Possible sites include either block north or south of Little America — Main Street and 500 South or 700 South. The 700 South alternative was Salt Lake's first choice for the Real Salt Lake soccer stadium before the team announced it would build in Sandy. Earl Holding owns both blocks, but Anderson said he had not yet talked to Holding.

Some of those ducks Anderson needs lined up likely include the Salt Lake County Council, which controls a portion of all hotel taxes in Salt Lake City. Anderson said he wants to use some of that money, along with a private developer's resources, to help fund construction of the theater. The County Council, which is negotiating with the soccer team about public money for the Sandy stadium, just wants to keep everybody happy, Councilman Randy Horiuchi said.