https://www.sltrib.com/artsliving/food/2024/03/20/salt-lake-city-bakery-is-denied/
Guy wants a liquor license for his bakery. Does $25K in renovations and gets new insurance costing an additional $10K annually, and only after all of that does he bother to see if he can get a liquor license at that location. Turns out he can’t, due to an unambiguous law, a measurement you could have taken from Google Earth, and a church (where they fucking mummify people lol) that’s been around for 50 years.
The media response to lighting tens of thousands of dollars on fire because you didn’t do basic shit involved in running a business? A sympathetic half-puff piece that of course never raises the idea that you could have figured this shit out on a computer in an hour for free, or maybe paid a lawyer a lot less than $35K+ to do the research for you.
https://abs.utah.gov/licenses-permits/applications-renewals/proximity-restrictions/
It’s a real rule with the distance requirement plainly spelled out.
“Can I actually get a liquor license for my business” is basic question for a business owner, one you can and should get a firm answer on before dropping $35K. This guy failed at a basic task, blew a ton of money because of it, and the media response is as charitable and forgiving as you can imagine. The fact that this guy sat for an interview to publicize his fuckup speaks to how businesses are treated with kid gloves.
I think it speaks more to how there are a large number of Utahns who resent the administrative state being co-opted by theocratic moralists.