SYRACUSE — About 1,200 Syracuse residents don't think restaurants that serve alcohol should be allowed in the city.

Those residents signed petitions in March to get the issue on the November ballot. The signatures still have to be verified by the Davis County clerk, but Cassie Brown, Syracuse city recorder, said Tuesday that so far, they are in compliance.

The referendum petition comes after the City Council voted 3-2 on Feb. 13 to allow restaurants to serve alcohol for on-site consumption, as long as the restaurants' doors are located at least 600 feet via streets or sidewalks from a church, school, library, public playground, public building or park. Alcohol also may not be served at any restaurant within 200 feet "measured in a straight line" of those public places.

The ordinance was meant to allow developer HBN to court sit-down restaurants, which would allow the city to reap some of the sales-tax revenue. If the residents are successful with their referendum, they would likely be chasing away a Winger's, which HBN had courted to a 10-acre parcel of land at Antelope Drive and 2500 West.

The developers have committed to build a 1,200-seat movie theater for that lot and would like to bring in restaurants to complement the entertainment, said Ben Brubaker, one of the developers. But he said if restaurant alcohol sales are defeated in the city, his firm can look at other types of businesses for the area, such as a car wash or a bank.

"It deviates from our vision," he said, but "we're not terribly concerned."

June Thurgood, one of the petition sponsors, is concerned that a nearby soccer park, which is outside the 600-foot zone from the planned development, is still too close.

"We don't feel that we want alcohol around our children," she said.

Allyson Eskelson, another sponsor, said she's worried about a slippery slope and points to Riverdale and Roy as examples of what can happen to a city that allows alcohol sales.

"It just opened door for all other kinds of junk," she said. "Anytime you've got alcohol, you've got problems."

Councilmen Lurlen Knight and Dean Steel opposed the Feb. 13 ordinance, saying they didn't think allowing alcohol would be worth a potential risk to safety.

But Councilman Phil Orton said even though he is a nondrinker, he believes the city should allow nicer sit-down restaurants to serve alcoholic beverages.

"I went with the route I feel like was best for our city," Orton said.

Councilman Wally Peterson said he eventually decided it would be better for Syracuse to get the sales-tax revenue that was going to Layton when Syracuse residents go there to eat.

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E-mail: jdougherty@desnews.com