Utah could see its most sweeping liquor reform in years, including doing away with private clubs and dismantling the so-called Zion Curtain under a deal that is on the verge of approval by negotiators.

"It's not my favorite solution at this point," said Senate President Michael Waddoups, R-Taylorsville, among the most strident anti-alcohol senators. But it is one that he expects he will be able to live with.

Sen. John Valentine, R-Orem, who was one of the negotiators, said a deal is close.

"I'm hoping tomorrow we can have it nailed down," he said Wednesday evening.

Representatives of the House, the Senate, bar owners, restaurants, the governor's office and the LDS Church hammered out the framework during intense closed-door negotiations this week.

Waddoups said he expects the compromise will do away with Utah's unique private club law, which requires patrons to be a member or a guest of a member in order to drink at a bar. It is a change that was strongly backed by Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. and supported by 51 percent of Utahns in a poll conducted for The Salt Lake Tribune before the session began.

A report released Wednesday by the Real Estate Professionals for Economic Growth, based on interviews with 40 companies that had recently relocated to Utah or expanded in the state, found that the perceptions of Utah's complicated liquor laws were an obstacle to economic development in the state.

"The negotiations are ongoing, but we're really close to a compromise," said Huntsman's spokeswoman, Lisa Roskelley.

In place of the private-clubs requirement, patrons under the age of 30 or potentially 35 would have to scan their identification to verify they are old enough to enter a bar.

Valentine said the question of how long the records would be retained and whether they would be stored on-site or in a central database is a subject of ongoing negotiation.

Waddoups said that how to deal with restaurants that have bars in them is the stickiest issue right now. The Senate president has been critical of restaurants that he says are becoming more like bars.

"They want to maintain that lawbreaker status," said Waddoups.

A bill sponsored by Valentine would have required drinks to be prepared in a separate room or behind a 10-foot-high wall.

The deal being discussed would not require any structural changes to the restaurants and drinks could be served across the counter, rather than servers having to walk around a small Plexiglas ridge that has been called the Zion Curtain. Children would not be allowed at the bar.

But, according to Waddoups, going forward, the distinction between bars and restaurants would be made more clear.

In exchange for the concessions on private clubs and restaurants, Waddoups said there would be a series of steps taken to clamp down on drunken driving: Drunken drivers could be forced to forfeit their vehicle. Bars that serve drinks to people who are then involved in accidents would be liable for more damages. Minors caught drinking would lose their license on the first offense.

"The thing I'm hearing most from my constituents is they don't want us to look quirky and they want harsh punishment for DUI," Waddoups said.

Valentine said there are discussions of a proposal to create a resort license -- which would serve as an umbrella for resorts that have multiple bars or clubs -- and of changes he wanted for the existing convention license.

The Senate discussed the issue in its closed caucus Wednesday, but did not take a formal position, because details and the language of the bill are still being refined.

Art Brown, president of the Utah Chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, said he could not comment until he saw specifics of any compromise that might be reached.