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In 1981, Diana Spencer married Prince Charles, Beyoncé Knowles was born, and Farr West incorporated itself as a city complete with zoning ordinances and liquor laws.

Now, 26 years later, Diana is gone, Beyoncé has grown up, and some are calling for Utah communities, like Farr West, to update liquor laws that ban restaurants from serving alcohol.

"We haven't had trouble with the ordinance until last year, the golf course wanted to serve alcohol, and this year, a restaurant wanted it," said Farr West Mayor Jimmie Papageorge, who also was the city's first mayor in 1981.

"This is a pretty strong church city, and they don't seem to want that kind of thing," he said. "To me it doesn't matter one way or the other, but I don't think it will be changed until there's a new city council."

The law, which bans anyone from consuming an alcoholic beverage in the same place that they purchased it, was once fairly common.

But it is now extremely rare, said Sharon Mackay, administrative secretary for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

"It's unusual, but it isn't unheard of," she said. "We give local authorities the first right of refusal. So if the city stops people from getting a liquor license, there's nothing we can do about it."

In Weber, Davis and Morgan counties, the only cities to still have laws that ban alcohol service in restaurants are Farr West and Marriott-Slaterville.

North Logan, in Cache County, had a similar ordinance, but abandoned it by 2000 when a Winger's Grill and Bar opened.

Centerville has a city ordinance that regulates beer, but doesn't deal with hard alcohol like whiskey and vodka at all. City officials say they are working to address the situation since the Lone Star Steakhouse in Centerville already offers a full bar.

Of the five largest cities in Box Elder County -- Brigham City, Tremonton, Perry, Garland and Willard -- none has a law that completely bans restaurants from serving alcohol.

Bill Morris, Marriott-Slaterville's city administrator and attorney, said that the U.S. Constitution as well as Utah's Constitution clearly grant cities the power to ban all retail alcohol sales. In 1999, the Utah Supreme Court upheld the city of Boulder's right to deny restaurants liquor licenses. Boulder later changed its ordinance and now has two restaurants that serve beer and wine.

The 21st Amendment, which Utah ratified in 1933, ended national prohibition of alcohol.

However, it allowed for states, counties and cities to make their owns laws regarding the distribution of liquor. Mississippi, which had a state prohibition on alcohol since 1907 and never ratified the 21st Amendment, retained some "dry counties" that have banned the manufacture, sale and transportation of alcohol within their boundaries.

Currently, Utah has no dry counties, a fact that isn't lamented much, even in Farr West.

"I don't want to move back in that direction. We tried prohibition, and how did that work?" said Ted Johnston, a Farr West city councilman. "Does that mean that we should open it up for a free-for-all? No."

Joe Cottam, the owner of Melina's Restaurant on 2700 North, whose request to serve beer was rejected by the Farr West City Council on Sept. 9, said the ordinance was ruining his business.

"Personally, I don't drink. I never have," he said. "But I'm in the business of customer service. People walk out of my restaurant when they find out they can't drink beer. Eventually, Farr West City Council will realize that they're in the customer-service business, too."

Johnston said that he will not support a change to the ordinance because he wants to limit the availability of alcohol to make the community safer. But the current ordinance isn't the best way to make the city more secure, said Michael Scippa, advocacy director for The Marin Institute, a national alcohol watchdog group.

"Alcohol is a public health issue. It's responsible for about half the insurance claims in the country," he said. "But the most effective laws are ones that keep alcohol out of the hands of children and disadvantaged communities."

Adults should be able to drink, Scippa said, as long as they drink responsibly, and a restaurant is one of the best places for that. Melva Sine, president of the Utah Restaurant Association, agrees with Scippa.

"That's a silly and outdated rule," she said of the ordinance. "If people are going to consume alcohol, they should do it in a place that's safe, that's controlled, and that has food."

People are much less likely to get drunk when they consume alcohol at a restaurant, because the food helps them metabolize the alcohol and waiters are watching to make sure no one gets drunk, she said.

Johnston said he's worried that Melina's patrons will be able to get around the rules, get drunk, and then drive home. But Cottam thinks the city council is just waiting until a national chain wants to come in, and then they'll change the law.

"Some of the big chains have made inquiries here," Johnston said. "And maybe we've lost some revenue because of it, but I don't think Farr West has suffered any."

In Marriott-Slaterville, restaurants have yet to seriously ask for the ordinances to change, Morris said. He added that even with the ban, their city experiences an unusual number of people driving under the influence.

"For a city that has no bars and a population of 1,500 to have several DUIs a month is crazy," he said. "When we prosecute them, we find that they're not residents. They're people coming from bars in other cities."

While Utah isn't the most conservative state when it comes to liquor laws, Sine said, it still is one of 29 states that controls consumption and that makes it harder for restaurants.

"We are careful to be respectful of the culture in Utah, and at the same time we're working to help restaurants serve their customers," she said. "I hope Farr West can partner with the restaurants to do what's best for their community."

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