Liquor License Going Up For Auction In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River Township will be auctioning off another liquor license in the coming weeks, after the Township Council approved the sale of a retail distribution license Wednesday.

The resolution approving the auction did not include a date for the license auction. It set a minimum bid of $500,000 for the retail consumption license, which Toms River is able to offer because it gained population under the 2020 U.S. Census.

Liquor licenses in New Jersey are allocated based on the population of a town, with one retail consumption license per 3,000 residents in a town.

The township has 53 existing liquor licenses, Township Clerk Michael Cruoglio said. There are 30 consumption, 11 distribution, 8 clubs (including the Elks and the VFW), 3 hotel/motel and one theatre liquor license.

Toms River auctioned off a distribution license in May for a township-record price of $1.6 million, the Asbury Park Press reported.

The auction will be held online and potential bidders must apply by Oct. 20, according to the legal notice of the auction. Eligibility announcements will be made Nov. 3 and the bidding period opens at 8 a.m. Nov. 6 and runs through 5 p.m. Nov. 9.

In January, Gov. Phil Murphy announced that he wanted an overhaul of New Jersey's liquor license laws, which date back to the end of Prohibition. So far, there has been little progress on that.

The lone change that has been made, to rules affecting craft breweries in a bill that passed the state Legislature unanimously, continues to await Murphy's signature. Read more: Bill To Revamp NJ Craft Brewery Restrictions Awaits Murphy's Signature