Proponents Submit Petition That Could Force Vote on BYOB in Ocean City

A group pushing to allow BYOB restaurants in the dry town of Ocean City submitted a petition to the city on Thursday afternoon.

The petition has 583 signatures -- enough to force a public question to be included on the ballot for the Nov. 8 election, according to a lawyer for the group.

The petitioners want voters to decide whether or not to permit "bring your own bottle," or BYOB, restaurants in a town that has prohibited the sale and public consumption of alcohol since its founding in 1879.

Jeff Sutherland, an attorney representing the restaurant owners who initiated the petition, said Thursday that the 583 signatures represent more than 10 percent of the votes cast in by Ocean City voters in the last General Assembly election.

He said 10 percent is the threshold to have a public question included in a regularly scheduled general election. The group would have required 15 percent to force a special election.

The signatures must be verified by the City Clerk's Office in Ocean City before the public question can be submitted to the county clerk for inclusion on the Nov. 8 ballot. Only registered Ocean City voters will be included as valid signatures. 

Sutherland said 4,976 total votes were cast in the last election -- requiring 498 signatures to reach 10 percent and 747 signatures to reach 15 percent.

He said the petitioners had set out to acquire the 747 signatures but decided to submit the petition now to make sure it could be verified in time to make the Sept. 2 deadline for getting onto the Nov. 8 ballot.

"Since it will not be an additional cost to the city or county to have the vote at the next general election, we decided to submit the currently collected signatures totaling 583," Sutherland said.

"I wanted to give the clerk ample time to review it," he said.

He pointed to the following New Jersey statutes regarding public question initiatives:

40:69A-184. Petition; percentage of legal voters required

The voters of any municipality may propose any ordinance and may adopt or reject the same at the polls, such power being known as the initiative. Any initiated ordinance may be submitted to the municipal council by a petition signed by a number of the legal voters of the municipality equal in number to at least 15% of the total votes cast in the municipality at the last election at which members of the General Assembly were elected. An initiated ordinance may be submitted to the municipal council by a number of the legal voters of the municipality equal in number to at least 10% but less than 15% of the total votes cast in the municipality at the last election at which members of the General Assembly were elected, subject to the restrictions set forth in section 17-43 (C. 40:69A-192) of this act.

40:69A-192. Referendum or initiative election

... b. In the case of an initiated petition signed by not less than 10% nor more than 15% of the legal voters, the ordinance shall be submitted at the next general or regular municipal election occurring not less than 40 days after the final date of withdrawal of the petition as provided for in section 17-42 (C. 40:69A-191) of this act. ...

Reached at home early Thursday evening, City Clerk Linda MacIntyre confirmed that the petition had been received by the city and that the document must meet only the 10 percent threshold described by Sutherland.

"I'm going to start verifying tomorrow," MacIntyre said.

She had previously said that her entire staff is prepared to work in confirming the signatures on the petition are valid.

Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian, who opposes the the BYOB initiative, said Thursday, "I just hope we all stay civil."

"I don't want people getting nasty," Gillian said. "My biggest fear is dividing the city."

He said early Thursday evening that he had just finished a telephone call to Bill McGinnity, one of the restaurant owners organizing the BYOB initiative and a fellow Ocean City High School graduate.

McGinnity, owner of Cousin's Restaurant at First Street and Asbury Avenue, echoed Gillian's wish for a civil campaign.

"It's about the City of Ocean City becoming a better place," McGinnity said. "I know in my heart of hearts it's going to be right for Ocean City."

He said BYOB restaurants could be a draw that could help make the island a destination to shop, dine and play year-round, not just in a frantic 11 weeks during the summer.

McGinnity said the petitioners pushed for 747 signatures but knew they needed only 498.

"We knew where we needed to be," he said. "We haven't even pressed that hard. People came to us."

He said he has no immediate plans to campaign for passage of the November ballot question. Instead, he's hoping to finish out a busy summer in the restaurant and catering business.

"This has been a second career for me," McGinnity said of the BYOB petition drive and the swirl of attention surrounding it.

Richard Stanislaw, president of the Ocean City Tabernacle, who said last weekend that a political action committee will be formed to raise money and organize voters opposed to the proposal, could not be reached for comment on Thursday evening.

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