10 Years After Historic Vote, Moorestown May See Liquor Stores

MOORESTOWN, NJ — When Moorestown residents voted to lift the township's century-long embargo on alcohol sales 10 years ago, sales were supposed to be confined to the Moorestown Mall.

A reason given for the proposal in the months leading up to that special election in 2011 was that the mall needed an economic boost.

However, a court ruling in a lawsuit filed in 2012 means alcohol sales in Moorestown can expand beyond the mall, and some residents aren’t happy about it.

“My main concern when we were voting on this was that it would end up on Main Street or near our neighborhood,” resident Kathy Sutherland said during Monday night’s township council meeting. “I don’t want package goods on Main Street. This is going back on what the people of the township voted on originally. Liquor licenses are meant to be at the mall.”

There were two questions on the ballot that year. By approving Question 1, voters elected to open the township—dry since the early part of the 20th century—to liquor licenses.

And by approving Question 2, they voted to limit the use of those licenses to restaurants at the mall. Read more here: 'Yes' Wins: Moorestown Liquor Referendum Passes

The township was recently sued, and while the results of the first question were upheld, the results of the second were overturned, opening the door for liquor sales beyond the mall.

Based on its population and pending the results of the 2020 Census, Moorestown will have either two or three retail liquor licenses it can sell. On Monday, Township Council discussed if it should sell the licesnes, and where liquor stores might be permitted to open.

There was a split, with Mayor Nicole Gillespie, Deputy Mayor Sue Mammarella and Councilman Quinton Law saying liquor stores should not be permitted on Main Street or Lenola Road. They thought liquor stores should be limited to the East Gate Square, Moorestown Commons and Business Park areas.

Councilmen Dave Zipin and Jake Van Dyken believed liquor stores should be allowed on Main Street and Lenola Road. The recommendations for where they should be permitted were made by the Planning Board.

Gillespie said she would like to set Main Street aside for proposed microbreweries, which operate under a different license. Mammarella said she would like to see Main Street and Lenola maintain their village appeal, and liquor stores are made to go into larger spaces.

Zipin argued that the township relinquishes control of the license once it is sold. The person who buys the license can then sell it, and the new buyer can go anywhere they want anyway, he said.

“We have a lot of restaurants on Main Street that are BYO,” Zipin said, adding that having a liquor store nearby would help them.

Van Dyken said Moorestown residents leave the township to buy alcohol, and that the market should dictate how much the township sells the license for, and where the stores should be able to go.

The discussion was held as part of council’s workshop, so no official decision was made. With three council members in favor of not allowing liquor stores on Main Street or Lenola Road, it does appear as though that’s the direction in which the township will go.

But resident Fred Sutherland had another idea.

He said, “if the township wants to make a change to allow package goods, it should be put up for the whole township to vote and not by five council members.”