Residents of Rose Park looking for a local watering hole: you’re in luck.
The Salt Lake City Planning Commission voted 5-1 on Wednesday to approve a conditional use permit for the Paris Social Bar, a proposed bar establishment at 910 W. 1000 North in Rose Park.
The future bar is currently an event venue and is zoned as Community Business (CB). A bar is allowed under that zone with a conditional use permit.
City staffers recommended approving the Paris Social request, but noted one condition that needed improvement, which was to provide a security and operations plan to the City Recorder’s office. The bar could hold around 150 people, according to the staff report.
Though the commission passed the permit Wednesday, commission member Bree Scheer was concerned with the overall size of the space, which is over 6,800 square feet. In the plans for the bar, a temporary wall essentially cuts the large room in half, leaving the bar with a proposed operating area of 2,198 square feet, which is under the limit for a bar and alcohol establishment with a conditional use permit.
Scheer’s concern was with the potential zoning overhaul currently being discussed by the Salt Lake City Council, which would consolidate commercial and mixed-use zoning.
Nick Norris, Salt Lake City’s planning director, said the size cap for this kind of an establishment would be eliminated under the proposed zoning changes.
Scheer said she’s not opposed to having a bar in Rose Park, but the temporary wall and the potential of a 6,800-square-foot bar caused her concern.
“I think a bar is very compatible with the neighborhood and a great place for entertainment,” Scheer said. “… But it’s an entirely different thing when it’s a very large dance hall.”
Because of this, Scheer proposed approving the conditional use permit, as long as the bar area did not exceed past the temporary wall. That motion was approved 5-1.
Guillermo Calvo, the applicant for the bar, told the commission Paris Social would be a family business, and he envisioned the bar as a watering hole where people can relax. His sister-in-law, Monica Acuña, would be the manager. She told the commission the bar would serve as a community asset and a gathering place for people in Rose Park.
Calvo and Acuña heard a number of concerns from Rose Park residents during the Wednesday meeting, as over a dozen people made public comments against opening the bar. Many of their concerns were over excessive noise, increased crime and drunk drivers, among other issues.
Dozens of people signed a petition opposing the bar’s approval, according to sheets included in the city’s staff report.
Though the Planning Commission has signed off on the bar, Paris Social doesn’t have a liquor license with the state, which are chronically in short supply. The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Services (DABS) typically favors applicants who are ready to open when it doles out new licenses, and a conditional use permit was a major hurdle on the way.
If Paris Social does get a liquor license, it would be the lone bar in Rose Park. The closest establishment to the neighborhood with a bar license is Molly’s Gemini Room, a cabaret bar east of Interstate 15 on 600 North.
For a more subdued lounge, Rose Parkers would have to travel to Handlebar along 300 West or Mountain West’s Cider Bar on 400 West — both of which are outside the neighborhood and across Interstate 15.
Alicia Seeley, a principal planner for Salt Lake City, explained Wednesday that Paris Social would be within a 15-minute walk for much of Rose Park, and the bar would be in line with area plans to encourage creating gathering spaces.
The next meeting for the Utah Department of Alcoholic Beverage Service, which issues bar and liquor licenses, is slated for Dec. 19, though it’s not clear if Paris Social is on the DABC’s list of potential new bars. The department has four liquor licenses available to dole out in December, according to Gastronomic SLC.
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