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Liquor laws
(adding to alcohol laws of Utah page)While most states allow their grocery stores to sell a variety of alcoholic products, Utah restricts their supermarkets to only sell packaged beer. Restaurants that did not have the zion curtains before May 12, 2009 are not required to build them, giving owners with those licenses a “grandfathered” bar structure. Any modification to the existing structure will result in the loss of the grandfathering.

Utah Liquor License
The state of Utah has a number of liquor licenses you can obtain. These include licenses for restaurants, clubs, reception centers and many more. Each license includes a cost for obtaining the license, restrictions on the number of licenses the state issues and different qualification steps a person needs to go through to obtain that license. For example, a person wanting to obtain an “on-premise banquet and catering” license is any person wanting to serve alcohol in a sports center, convention center, hotel, or resort facility. The initial fee is $750 while the application fee is $300. By law, only one out of every 30,000 people can obtain this type of license in the state of Utah. Licenses are issued by the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission, a board that only meets once a month to approve or reject liquor license applications.

Zion curtain reform
Abolishing the Zion Curtains has been an often proposed and contentious issue affecting Utah politics for years. Many restaurants feel it introduces one more hardship in a state with too many alcohol restrictions, while others feel like it is a much-needed instrument to protect children and teens from exposure to alcohol consumption. A new bill is, HB339, is being introduced, that would allow restaurant owners to abolish their Zion curtain provided the owners established a separate bar area that would not be accessible to anyone under the age of 21.

Lawmakers insist that a wall or partition obscuring any alcoholic beverages from view helps to shield children and teens from the glamorization of alcohol. “Jim Fell, a research scientist with the Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation, points out that no research has been conducted to establish whether there is any actual benefit to this laws implementation. Exposure to alcohol does have an effect on teen drinking, but I worry that the multimedia, including alcohol advertising, would overwhelm any effects that the Utah law might have," said Fell. "It's important to evaluate this — but it would have to be done by an independent, objective researcher, not someone who is an advocate or who opposes the law.”

Does it work
Utah has one of the lowest rates of alcohol related deaths in the nation. Many in the state credit their stringent liquor controls for their positive numbers. The National Highway Traffic Safety administration lists Utah as the lowest with 12% percent of traffic fatalities. Comparing these statistics across states is problematic due to a lower population of people who consume alcohol in Utah owing to a higher participation rate of people who belong to the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Zion curtain has no research to back any effects that have been attributed to its existence. Some of the other regulations, including restricting wine and liquor to only State run liquor stores, and tightly controlling the time one may purchase and consume alcohol have a greater body of research that suggests these policies have a net positive for social and health benefits for the populations impacted by the regulations.

The Mormon Church’s influence on policy
The Church has a large influence on Utah’s public policy. Whether it is through the large population of Mormon constituents, the values and religious beliefs of policy makers, or the Church issuing public opinions on matters up for debate, the Church holds a lot of sway in public policy matters. The Mormon Church has made a statement in 2015 endorsing Utah’s current liquor laws.

Economic impact
Utah is still growing at a moderate growth and has unemployment below 4%, with fairly large gains in the tech industry. Many new companies have located in Utah due to their friendly business practices. According to the Governor’s Economic report, liquor sales have risen 7.9% in 2014,” as consumption, demographic patterns, and economic factors combined to push sales up”.

“Travel research firm TNS Global, reported total Utah person trips during the first six months of 2014 had increased an estimated 12 percent from 2013, with an 18 percent increase in nonresident visitors. Similarly, during the first three quarters of 2014, total visits to Utah’s five national parks and places had increased 10 percent from the previous year.”

Business and Tourism dollars lost
No cost analysis research has been done to determine if Utah’s liquor laws have affected Utah’s business, economic growth, or tourism industry. Businesses who have chosen to expand or relocate their businesses in other states appear to be mostly alcohol related.

Epic brewery chose to expand in Colorado with a 2 to 3 million dollar facility instead of Utah due to Utah’s constantly changing liquor laws. “ "Who knows ... what things they'll dream up next to punish an industry that pays millions of millions of taxes in this state," David Cole said. While he predicts state laws will eventually change, "It's going to change a lot slower than we are as a company." That's why Epic has turned to Denver, where it plans to open a 19,000-square-foot brewery in June or July to meet demand in the 12 states where Epic is sold. Unlike in Utah, the Denver-based brewery will open with a tap room and can serve drinks without selling food. Cole said the tax is lower, too.”