A tolerant Syracuse
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dults who wish to do so may someday soon be able to enjoy a drink or a beer with their meal in Syracuse -- just as they currently are permitted in neighboring cities. We congratulate the majority of Syracuse City Council members who voted to allow a limited number of on-premise liquor licenses should restaurants want to serve alcohol with meals.
As Councilman Wallace Peterson explained his vote in favor or the new ordinance, "I feel we have an obligation to be tolerant."
It's more convenient -- and profitable for a city's bottom line -- to have shopping and restaurants within municipal borders, so residents don't have to travel to another town for a meal. Along with lunch or supper, some people like to have a cocktail or a beer as a palette-cleanser; they don't get liquored-up at a Chili's or an Applebee's while eating a salad or steak, then jump behind the wheel of an automobile to wreak havoc on the roads.
Unfortunately, that's the misunderstanding some Syracuse residents have about people who imbibe with meals. As we've said in this space previously, we suspect it's an attitude resulting from simple ignorance: Opponents have never been out to dinner with anyone who has a beer or drink with a meal. If they had, they would understand the emptiness -- and, to some imbibers, offensive moralizing -- of their argument.
But don't take our word for it. Layton has dozens of restaurants with on-premise liquor licenses. It's not a haven for dangerous drunks. And if Layton's roads are more unsafe than those in some other Top of Utah cities, it's because Layton's are crowded with people looking to spend money and fill local tax coffers, not because they've been chugging beers at Famous Dave's.
Syracuse, your City Council voted 3-2 to promote inclusiveness and to scrub unnecessary divisiveness out of the municipal code. Way to go.
