SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, March 8, 2017 (Gephardt Daily) — The Utah Legislature on Wednesday passed a bill to modify a law requiring some Utah restaurants to hide their bars behind 7-foot-tall barriers.
The bill next goes to Gov. Gary Herbert’s desk, and he has said he approves of it.
The bar barriers, which have come to be known as examples of the “Zion Curtain,” were intended to block minors from viewing alcohol preparation by bartenders.
The Zion Curtain reference was created as a reference to the state’s large population of non-drinking members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The passage of HB442 will now allow restaurants to remove the 7-foot-tall view-blocking barriers if they either install a 42-inch partition five feet away from their bars, or establish a 10-foot buffer area between the bar and customer seating. Some restaurants would have to comply by 2018, and all would have to comply by 2022.
The current law requires bartenders to mix or pour drinks behind an opaque barrier or in a back room. Those who order drinks may imbibe in full view of all.
What ‘problem’ are we solving with this nonsense?