Keep Downtown 'Bars' Out of Neighborhoods?

I just had lunch with a friend of mine who happens to be a fairly progressive LDS Saint, they are rare but do exist. She was telling me about how people in her parents ward(s) were distributing coded literature about attending some meeting for people who want to protect family values etc, etc. in their neighborhood. They went to said meeting out of curiosity and enjoyed the above literature (click for larger) and a tirade about how Mayor Ralph Becker is trying to bring these downtown 'bars' into their children backyards (see Squatter's brewpub next to a daycare). So, they are planning to flash-mob the Salt Lake Planning Commission meeting scheduled for Wednesday, January 27th in order to intimidate the commission into voting no on normalizing alcohol laws in neighborhoods. It's crazy for one thing because in reality, the licenses are for restaurants/pubs not full bars and it's not like it's going to turn into wall to wall biker and gay bars with the amount of licenses available to begin with. And second, it would cripple the progress we're making toward more walkable city planning that quite laughably is at it's core pro-business. So...

You can support the city's efforts to:

• Normalize the alcohol laws - bringing the city's laws into alignment with Governer Huntsman's new State laws.
• Allow community gathering places like neighborhood pubs.
• Create a community environment that would attract businesses to Salt Lake

Please do two things:

1. Email support messages to the Salt Lake Planning Commission at tami.hansen@slcgov.com.
2. Attend the meeting of the Salt Lake Planning Commission Wednesday, January 27, at 5:45pm in the City and County Building (4th South and State Street).

We need to present a balanced discussion at this meeting so tell your friends and neighbors, facebook this info, print and post this PDF notice or link back here. Do whatever it takes to get the message out and attendants to the meeting. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to have a responsible drink at your neighborhood restaurant or pub and walk home instead of risk driving or pay a cab?