5 Somerset County Mayors Join Push For More Liquor Licenses

SOMERSET COUNTY, NJ — Five Somerset County mayors were among 90 across New Jersey to join Gov. Phil Murphy’s efforts to overhaul the state’s liquor laws and phase out the cap on licenses.

The bipartisan coalition, the Mayors For Liquor License Reform, have said "exorbitant" license costs, and a lack of availability for municipalities to acquire new ones because of the existing population cap, has hurt local businesses for too long.

The group joins a number of restaurant owners, breweries, and chefs who have called for reform in the industry.

Here are the five mayors in Somerset County who joined the initiative:

• Bernardsville - Mary Jane Canose (Republican)
• Hillsborough - Shawn Lipani (Republican)
• Peapack & Gladstone - Mark A. Corigliano (Republican)
• Raritan Borough - Zack Bray (Republican)
• Rocky Hill - Bob Uhrik (Democrat)

"The present system favors the economically advantaged while hampering mom-and-pop businesses and towns with smaller populations," said the mayors’ coalition in an open letter. "These reforms are long overdue and all the more pressing in light of the devastating impact the COVID- 19 pandemic has had on the hospitality industry in general and the distress it has caused for downtowns and Main Streets throughout New Jersey."

New Jersey’s current liquor license laws only allow local governments to issue one consumption liquor license for every 3,000 residents. Murphy called for changes to the system in his State of the State address and rolled out a proposal in February which gradually increases the number of new licenses available in municipalities until the current cap is no more. The mayors’ coalition includes leaders of towns both big and small, from Aberdeen to Newark to Woodstown.

Democrats in the state Senate and Assembly have introduced legislation to make some of these changes. Here’s what is proposed:

• Phase out the population cap by reducing it by 10 percent for five years, which would allow cities and towns to issue more licenses over time. After the phaseout, licenses would go uncapped and issued as needed, and the resale of licenses would be prohibited. The current proposal does not make allowances for towns with fewer than 3,000 residents.
• Establish administrative prices and fees for new licenses based on business size. The ABC would set prices and review them annually, while granting municipalities the right to assess local fees.
• Expand the rights of license holders for breweries, distilleries and wineries. The plan would establish a new consumption license with expanded privileges that wouldn't get capped or restricted. Current license holders could get the new class of license for a fee.
• Create a tax credit of up to $50,000 to support businesses, such as restaurants, that already paid significant money for their current liquor licenses.
• Allow municipalities to renew, or deny renewal, of an inactive license to sell alcohol if they find the licensee has not made a good faith attempt to put it to use.
• Keep the local review process in place.

This proposal also “would also expand the rights of holders of certain brewery, cidery and meadery, distillery, and winery licenses,” many of which have restrictions on events and what they may serve.

The proposed bills by Senator Gordon Johnson (D-7) and Assemblymember Raj Mukherji (D-33) await committee hearings.

— With reporting by Michelle Rotuno-Johnson