The Utah Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission voted to write state legislation to relax restrictions that force people to pay private club membership fees in order to buy alcohol, the Salt Lake Tribune reported July 31.

The commission voted 4-1 in favor of ending some laws that it says appear antiquated to outsiders and often confuse tourists who want to buy alcohol. These practices include the placement of glass partitions referred to as "Zion Curtains" that separate restaurant patrons from alcoholic beverages.

As a result of concerns from the state's hospitality industry about state liquor laws' impact on visitors, Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) has quietly advanced the idea of a temporary membership card for tourists. MADD considers this preferable to the idea of abolishing the private club memberships altogether, as it says studies show that increased availability of alcohol leads to greater harms such as drunk driving.

Kathryn Balmforth, the commission member who voted against the move toward legislative changes, believes the private clubs have served an important purpose as barriers to drunk driving and underage drinking. But Commissioner Bobbie Coray said testimony in public hearings has convinced him that the clubs' time has passed. "Since their creation some 40 years ago, they've come down to being little more than unnecessary regulations," Coray said.

The new legislation that will be drafted would essentially turn the existing private clubs into public bars. Yet present restrictions on the location of bars and the awarding of liquor licenses would remain in effect under the plans supported by the alcohol control board.