By JILL CRANDALL
The City Attorney recommended the Orem City Council amend Chapter 3 (Alcoholic Beverages) of the City Code at the City Council work session Tuesday. The change would require city licenses and change the hours of sale for beer and liquor in Orem.
The purpose of a City Council work session is for the City Council to receive information, exchange ideas and give direction to staff on possible future Council action, said Mayor Joe Nielson.
The amendments to Chapter 3 of the City Code are intended to make Orem’s Alcoholic Beverages Ordinance more in tune with the State Alcoholic Beverage Control Act, said Steve Earl, an Orem attorney. The amendments would also give Orem more authority to license and regulate the sale of beer and liquor in the city, Earl said.
He said the amendment would require every type of retail sale of beer or liquor to have a city license. The current city ordinance only requires a city license for the retail sale of beer for consumption off-premises, such as beer sales at convenience stores. It does not require a city license for any other types of sales of alcoholic beverages, Earl said.
“It makes sense from a regulatory standpoint to require a city license because it is the city that enforces the alcohol laws,” Earl said.
Orem is the only major city in Utah that does not require a separate city license for establishments that serve alcohol for on-premise consumption, Nielson said.
The amended ordinance also modifies the hours of sale for beer and liquor, Earl said. The current ordinance prohibits the sale of all alcoholic beverages at establishments licensed by the city or by the state on any Sunday after 1:00 a.m.
If passed by the City Council, the amendment would allow licensed establishments to sell beer on Sundays during the regular authorized hours and make the hours of sale of beer and liquor identical to the hours set forth in state law, Earl said.
The amended ordinance would also change the punishment for violating the alcohol ordinance, Earl said. Under the new ordinance, violators would first be warned, and then have to pay a fine. Currently, a bond is posted for the offender, which can be forfeited and appealed.
“We take alcohol violation very seriously,” Earl said.
City Council members recognized that the ordinance should be amended and Nielson recommended that the staff continue to look into amending the ordinance and bring it back to the City Council to vote on at a later date.
