Owner of new Ballpark bar says Utah’s liquor commission is targeting his business

Two Utah bars received liquor licenses on Thursday, but one bar in Salt Lake City’s Ballpark neighborhood may have to wait until next month to get a license. The Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services’ (DABS) liquor commission awarded a license to High West Saloon , the bar for the well-known whiskey distillery at 703 Park Ave. in Park City, with the surrender of its full-service restaurant license.

The other bar that got a license is Mono Tape Club , at 521 W. 500 North in Salt Lake City, a “stereo listening room” that is returning to the scene after first appearing in late 2022, according to its Instagram account. However, commissioners decided to table the application for Apparition , a “Gothic Victorian ghost pirate rum and cider haunt” at 25 E.



Kensington Ave, Unit C, in Salt Lake City. During Thursday’s meeting, commissioners said they hadn’t received Apparition’s application with enough lead time to review it ahead of the meeting, as they typically do with businesses applying for a liquor license. The reason the application was added to the agenda only days before the meeting, explained Brian Swan, deputy director of legal and regulatory affairs for the DABS, was that the bar was in violation of state law due to it being too close to a community location.

DABS spokesperson Michelle Schmitt said that Utah law requires that licensed bars can’t be within 600 feet by ordinary pedestrian travel to certain community locations, like churches. “Given this clear and inflexible requirement, DABS staff needed further review of the application and possible premise changes that would alleviate proximity concerns,” Schmitt said. As things stand, though, the DABS was able to work with Apparition’s owner, advocate and 2023 Salt Lake City mayoral candidate Michael Valentine, to satisfy the proximity requirements and allow his application for a license to be forwarded to the commission for their consideration, Schmitt continued.

But it appears that at least one commissioner still had reservations about the application. During Thursday’s meeting, commissioner Tara Thue said she had questions about whether Apparition is running afoul of a Utah law that prohibits public entities from entering into contracts with companies that are currently engaged in a boycott of Israel. Thue said the matter wasn’t something she could dig into during a public meeting.

In Utah law, the Public Contract Boycott Restrictions don’t mention anything about applying for a liquor license. Valentine made headlines last year when he declared in an Instagram post that no Zionists were allowed at his cider bar Weathered Waves in The Gateway in support for Palestine, prompting the DABS to notify the attorney general’s office. Commenters on Weathered Waves’ post accused the bar, Valentine and his cidery, Six Sailor Cider, of being antisemitic.

Valentine said Friday that Apparation would also be anti-Zionist. “All of my businesses are anti-Zionist, the same way they are anti-Nazi and anti-genocide,” he said. “We obviously don’t support injustice and human-rights abuses.

” In a statement sent in response to the commission tabling Apparition’s application, Valentine accused the DABS of targeting his business and said, “The DABS cannot legally consider applicants based on their political beliefs to determine if they are qualified to manage a bar or run a cidery.” He also said the Public Contract Boycott Restrictions were “unconstitutional.” Schmitt said Friday that the fate of Apparition’s bar license is in the hands of the commission.

After Thursday’s meeting, there are nine bar licenses and 48 full-service restaurant licenses available, Schmitt said. The next meeting of the DABS’ liquor commission is May 29. The other businesses that received liquor licenses Thursday include: • Smothered Burrito , 250 W.

500 South, Salt Lake City. • Landmark Grill , 282 W. 7200 South, Midvale.

• Swain’s at CB&M , 75 Main St., Roosevelt. • Annie’s Cafe , 74 W.

500 South, Bountiful (conditional). • Wild Peru , 4631 S. Redwood Road, Taylorsville (conditional).

• Wing Nutz , 250 Red Cliffs Drive, #24, St. George (conditional). • Hampton Inn and Suites , 307 N.

Admiral Byrd Road, Salt Lake City (conditional, projected opening May 1). • Catracho’s Restaurant , 4354 W. 3500 South, West Valley City (conditional, projected opening May 1).

• Street Eats , 1710 E. Red Cliffs Drive, Unit 1310, St. George (conditional, projected opening May 16).

• Conestoga Ranch , 427 N. Paradise Parkway, Garden City (projected opening May 16)..