accadacca
10-04-2011, 09:12 PM
sltrib.com - Provo • Three days after the LDS Church announced Provo would get a second Mormon temple, the city’s Municipal Council legalized Sunday beer sales.
The council voted 5-1 on Tuesday to repeal the decades-long ban on beer sales, joining other cities, including nearby Springville, in permitting such commerce on Sunday. Orem, Mapleton and American Fork continue to bar suds sales on Sunday.
Provo Mayor John R. Curtis signed the new ordinance, and City Recorder Janene Weiss said it could take effect as early as this Sunday, depending on when a local newspaper publishes it.
The previous ordinance limited beer sales to the hours of 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, stores that sold beer either closed off the shelves that contained beer or barricaded those aisles.
Council members said the change was not so much about regaining beer sales-tax money lost to neighboring Springville, but about respecting rights within a diverse community.
“The early [American] settlers came here looking for religious freedom, but denied it to others,” Councilwoman Laura Cabanilla said. “We don’t want to do that. This is a decision based on freedom and equal rights.”
Cabanilla said the council’s decision was in the service of the community, just as it voted a week earlier to sell city-owned land to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near the fire-gutted Provo Tabernacle.
LDS leaders announced on Saturday that the church would restore the tabernacle and convert it into a temple.
But Councilwoman Cynthia Dayton, who cast the only dissenting vote, said restricting the days beer is sold respects the majority of Provo residents.
Provo’s population is predominantly Mormon, whose faith teaches its members to eschew alcohol and discourages shopping on Sunday.
“This gives us a chance to respect ourselves and the majority of our citizens,” Dayton said. She said the beer buyers have six days when they can exercise that right.
Dayton said she did support rules that brought the hours of sale into conformity with state law.
Some residents who spoke during the meeting’s half-hour public portion said the city needed to keep the ban in place — even if it makes Provo different.
“I want to be considered funny and quirky,” said Jenny Lawton, citing the ban as one of the things she loved about Provo. “I think Sunday should be a day when we don’t sell alcohol in the stores.”
Judi Dayton, another resident, said people should consider stocking up on Saturday rather than pushing the city to change its laws on beer sales.
Yancee Hardy, a council candidate and an admitted alcoholic who has been sober for seven years, said Provo should stick to its guns.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52679071-78/beer-provo-sunday-sales.html.csp
The council voted 5-1 on Tuesday to repeal the decades-long ban on beer sales, joining other cities, including nearby Springville, in permitting such commerce on Sunday. Orem, Mapleton and American Fork continue to bar suds sales on Sunday.
Provo Mayor John R. Curtis signed the new ordinance, and City Recorder Janene Weiss said it could take effect as early as this Sunday, depending on when a local newspaper publishes it.
The previous ordinance limited beer sales to the hours of 7 a.m. to midnight Monday through Saturday. On Sundays, stores that sold beer either closed off the shelves that contained beer or barricaded those aisles.
Council members said the change was not so much about regaining beer sales-tax money lost to neighboring Springville, but about respecting rights within a diverse community.
“The early [American] settlers came here looking for religious freedom, but denied it to others,” Councilwoman Laura Cabanilla said. “We don’t want to do that. This is a decision based on freedom and equal rights.”
Cabanilla said the council’s decision was in the service of the community, just as it voted a week earlier to sell city-owned land to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near the fire-gutted Provo Tabernacle.
LDS leaders announced on Saturday that the church would restore the tabernacle and convert it into a temple.
But Councilwoman Cynthia Dayton, who cast the only dissenting vote, said restricting the days beer is sold respects the majority of Provo residents.
Provo’s population is predominantly Mormon, whose faith teaches its members to eschew alcohol and discourages shopping on Sunday.
“This gives us a chance to respect ourselves and the majority of our citizens,” Dayton said. She said the beer buyers have six days when they can exercise that right.
Dayton said she did support rules that brought the hours of sale into conformity with state law.
Some residents who spoke during the meeting’s half-hour public portion said the city needed to keep the ban in place — even if it makes Provo different.
“I want to be considered funny and quirky,” said Jenny Lawton, citing the ban as one of the things she loved about Provo. “I think Sunday should be a day when we don’t sell alcohol in the stores.”
Judi Dayton, another resident, said people should consider stocking up on Saturday rather than pushing the city to change its laws on beer sales.
Yancee Hardy, a council candidate and an admitted alcoholic who has been sober for seven years, said Provo should stick to its guns.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/52679071-78/beer-provo-sunday-sales.html.csp