"It is a change in the direction that they are taking toward individual situations," DABC chief enforcement officer Earl Dorius said Thursday after the commission's monthly meeting. "It was clear they were struggling with [liquor license] suspensions. It's a head-on collision of consistency versus having the flexibility to tailor things to a situation."

Wrestling with three thorny cases involving private clubs, the body that oversees the state's liquor monopoly and enforces liquor laws debated exercising more discretion in penalties for so-called grave violations, such as serving minors and drunk patrons.

In the past, the commission has approved penalties for grave violations ranging from a minimum 10-day license suspension to revocation and/or fines of up to $25,000.

But the three clubs appealed their license suspensions as draconian, arguing they not only would destroy their businesses, but punish innocent club employees by putting them out of work.

Commission Chairman Nick Hales on Thursday agreed such outcomes were "unintended consequences," adding, "All these things should be weighed in the balance [of the punishment]."

Most commissioners agreed and supported exercising more leeway to balance reduction in the suspensions with steeper fines. "It's our rule and we are the body that interprets our rule," Hales said.

But Larry Lunt, who was appointed new DABC commission chairman at the close of Thursday's meeting, argued in favor of consistency and adhering closely to the punishment guidelines.

Dorius reminded commissioners that in the past, they had indicated "fines alone are not appropriate" for grave violations of liquor law.

In two of the appeals - the Pressbox II in West Valley City and the Tool Box in Ogden - the commission again postponed final decisions to allow input from DABC staff and consultation with the clubs' owners. Both clubs violated a law prohibiting service to intoxicated customers.

Pressbox lawyer Tyler Ayres said Thursday's meeting left him confused and frustrated.

"I am very pleased they are having these discussions," Ayres said. But his client's apparent choice between a 10-day suspension and $3,500 in fines or a three-day suspension and a $10,000 fine is equally devastating to a small business.

"Both seem excessive," he said. "They are just trying to figure out how to make the pill go down easier. It's the same bitter pill."

The commission, however, decided to rule on the third appeal, from Salt Lake City's Port O' Call. Based on a Halloween 2002 incident, the venerable downtown social club faced $11,000 in fines and a minimum of a 10-day suspension for not limiting service to several drunk patrons. The bar's owner Kent Knowley has argued the suspension was overly severe punishment for the club's first serious violation in 24 years of business. Worse, he said, it would put more than 100 employees out of work.

In the first exercise of its new-found flexibility, the commissioners voted to suspend Port O' Call's license for three days and fined the club $25,000, plus $3,150 in costs.

In perhaps a foreshadowing of what might be ahead for a flexible DABC, Port O' Call's lawyer Pat Shea immediately lobbied - unsuccessfully - that the club's suspension be reduced to two days.