Utah's annual alcohol bill almost died over one issue — authority over proximity to communities

Yahoo

11-03-2025

Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, is pictured at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the last night of the legislative session, Friday, March 1, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)
It's customary for predominantly Latter-day Saint Utah to update its strict alcohol code annually. In past years, the state Legislature has closed gaps in the law, expanded the number of alcohol licenses available for local businesses, and added a 88.5% markup on liquor, wine, and flavored malt beverages.
This year, that omnibus bill stalled and almost died in the Senate when lawmakers drew a hard line on a switch of authority on an essential requirement — proximity to schools, parks and churches.
SB328, sponsored by Sen. Jerry Stevenson, R-Layton, was the product of monthslong work with different industry actors. But, the first time it was brought to a Senate floor discussion in early March, it failed with a 13-15 vote when Stevenson resisted a motion from Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, to remove a provision of the bill that allowed local governments to authorize a store or restaurant with an alcohol license within less than 300 feet of a park.
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(The bill) 'came out quite late, and the idea to shift proximity decisions from the state to local governments is a significant policy change, that, I'm willing to say, may be the right one,' Fillmore said last Tuesday to the Senate. 'But I think it needs more vetting than we're able to give this bill today.'
In 2024, the Legislature traced some carveouts for the so-called downtown revitalization zone, which 'kind of evaporates proximity issues,' Stevenson said. That was to allow less strict rules for establishments near the Delta Center. His bill, initially, would have allowed the same for the Point of the Mountain, another district being established at the former site of the Utah State Prison, but the idea ran into some opposition, so Stevenson's proposal later granted local governments the decision-making power in those proximity decisions.
'So what this does is, it would accommodate those (districts) without having to go through this, every year, of going through a situation of trying to define an entertainment district,' Stevenson said.
However, that didn't sit well with most of his colleagues, including Senate Majority Leader Kirk Cullimore, R-Sandy, who said he couldn't support the bill without Fillmore's update.
'It gives me reason to pause about the policy shift in allowing cities and counties to make decisions that have generally been considered from a broader perspective at the state level,' Cullimore said.
The bill was revived after it failed. This time, the sixth version, sponsored by Fillmore, passed almost unanimously in the Senate and the House.
The legislation now makes an exception to include wider proximity permissions if there's a park managed by the Point of the Mountain Authority, specifically to allow alcohol sales in the River to Range park.
That park, Fillmore said, is a unique situation within the state since it covers 18 acres traversing Point of the Mountain land. The exception would allow that area of the district to become a 'prime spot for dining, for recreating.'
Stevenson told reporters after that vote that he supported the removal of proximity allowances in order to save the rest of the bill. But, he also said he doesn't think the issue will go away.
'I think that if this is in good economic business sense for that community, I think it would make economic business sense for every community. And I don't understand why we have all of these separate carveouts for different people,' Sen. Kathleen Riebe, D-Cottonwood Heights, said.
Especially, Riebe added, when there are other communities struggling to have restaurants because of the proximity regulations.
Long gone are the days in which 'Zion Curtains' separated bars from dining rooms. But the Utah law on alcohol keeps some quirks unique to the state, including the prohibition of double drinks and some time limitations to serve spirits in restaurants.
But, if Gov. Spencer Cox signs the bill, Utahns will remove the ban of 'straw tests' from that list. Bars had been requesting for a while to allow the technique often used to taste cocktails for quality. In the end, consuming a few drops of alcohol from a straw doesn't amount for much, Stevenson said.
'I guess in circles where bartenders are involved, it's common practice,' Stevenson told reporters. 'The bartender will put their finger over the straw, put it in the drink they have mixed and taste it. So it's a few drops, and that seems to be really important to some folks.'
With the bill's approval, it would also be allowed to place a pick-up order for beer in a grocery store, rather than having to walk into the store for alcohol.
It also allows Utah licensees to pour alcoholic drinks from an original sealed can into a different container if it is less than 12 ounces.
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