Belmar bar fight over claims of political intimidation ends with $2.81M payout
Brothers Timothy and Matthew Harmon, who hoped to open an outdoor bar in Belmar, will receive $2.81 million as part of a settlement in a lawsuit they filed alleging town officials threw up roadblocks in favor of more politically connected competitors, their lawyer said Friday.
The settlement was a fraction of the $10 million the Harmons were seeking. And they abandoned their concept for the bar, called Salt. But Richard Shaklee, their Wall-based attorney, said his clients were ready to put the six-year-old case behind them, agreeing to a facilitated settlement.
"It’s a long journey, six years, and there comes a point where people need to move on, and we’re glad we can bring it to closure,” Shaklee said.
The settlement brings an end to a case that started in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy a decade ago and pitted the Harmons, who have owned Boathouse Bar & Grill in town since the late 1990s, against Belmar, former Mayor Matt Doherty and other borough and elected officials.
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The federal lawsuit, filed in 2017, alleged town officials used threats and intimidation to prevent the opening of Salt, a temporary outdoor bar that had been approved as part of Belmar's redevelopment plan.
The Harmons received planning board approval in 2014 to build an outdoor cafe and bar near the Shark River. The agreement called for the business to operate for three years. After that, the property would be turned into condominiums above commercial space that would include a restaurant and bar, the lawsuit said.
The Harmons began work, according to the lawsuit. They hired contractors to demolish an 8,000-square-foot warehouse on the site and install utilities and parking. And they stopped operating another restaurant they owned in Belmar, called 507 Main, and applied in April 2015 to transfer its liquor license to Salt.
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But a routine investigation into the liquor license transfer by the Belmar Police Department took 14 months, the lawsuit said, far longer than it took to approve similar transfers for two other restaurants with outdoor bars: Anchor Tavern, operated by Chef's International, and 10th Avenue Burrito.
The reason, according to the lawsuit: Doherty had instructed borough officials in the police and construction departments to interfere with the Salt project, adding that he had close connections to the owners of other restaurants and bars, including Chef's International and D'Jais.
When the police department completed its investigation into the liquor license in 2016, Belmar's council denied the transfer, the lawsuit said.
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Doherty told the Asbury Park Press in 2016 that the Harmons should have received approval to transfer the license before they started building and called the lawsuit frivolous, baseless and without merit.
Attempts to reach Belmar's attorney and now-Mayor Gerald Buccafusco, who wasn't named in the lawsuit, were unsuccessful. As part of the settlement, Belmar denied any wrongdoing, said Shaklee, the Harmons' lawyer.
Michael L. Diamond is a business reporter who has been writing about the New Jersey economy and health care industry for more than 20 years. He can be reached at mdiamond@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Belmar political intimidation bar fight ends in $2.81M settlement
