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The waiting list for bar licenses in Utah dropped from 11 to six on Tuesday thanks to population increases, a bar closure and changes made by the Utah Legislature.
The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control's liquor commission gave coveted club licenses to The Fallout, Proper Brewing Co. and East Liberty Tap House — all in Salt Lake City — and the new High West Distillery in Wanship. Three of the licenses were available because of a population increase, the fourth was available because a bar closed.
"I don't know when we've had this many," liquor commission chairman John T. Nielsen said of the availability. "This is a historical event."
The waiting list was further reduced when The Bistro, inside Ogden's Courtyard Marriott, withdrew from consideration. The owners plan to apply for a new hotel liquor license that was created by the Utah Legislature during its most recent session.
Now the list of club applicants is down to six. Three of those applicants — Josephine's in Kamas, Water Witch Bar in Salt Lake City and Strap Tank Brewing in Springville — have "summer seasonal" club licenses, which allow them to operate as a bar between May 1-Oct. 31. Applicants usually take the summer license in the hopes that a full license will become available before November.
Among other benefits, a club license allows a business to sell liquor without food. It also means the establishments can avoid building a 7-foot barrier, dubbed a "Zion Curtain," intended to keep minors from seeing the mixing and pouring of alcoholic drinks.
While several restaurant owners walked away from Tuesday's meeting feeling as if they had won the lottery, Jeremy Ford, owner of Caffe 222 on Salt Lake City's Main Street, walked away empty-handed — again. Ford has been waiting for a club license since December 2013, but the board has refused to grant him a club license since he already holds such a permit for Bistro 222, which is across the lobby in the Goldman Sachs building.
While the businesses are practically next door to one another, "they have very different atmospheres," Ford told the commission. "I guess if the lobby wasn't in the way, I could operate them under one license, but they are two different businesses and have different business plans."
Typically, businesses that want a club license must apply with the DABC and then wait until one becomes available through an increase in population — state law allows one club for every 7,850 people — or another bar closure.
Buying a club license from another license holder can help a business avoid the wait, but can be costly. Since the law took effect in July 2014, more than a dozen licenses have been sold for anywhere from $30,000 to more than $100,000, business owners have told The Salt Lake Tribune.