'A good compromise': NJ liquor license reform bill moves forward for state Senate vote

After nearly a year of discussion, legislation that seems poised to reform the liquor license process in New Jersey has cleared committee in the Senate.

The bill was released from the state Senate Budget and Appropriations Committee on Thursday afternoon with unanimous support.

State Sen. Paul Sarlo, who chairs the committee and sponsored the bill, said there was “no need to open up the door and just blanket the state with more licenses."

“I was steadfast on that, as well as many members from both sides of the aisle,” Sarlo said. “Today is a good compromise that addresses some of the issues that have been hanging around for the last year or so.”

Concerns expressed

Mary Ellen Peppard and Michael DeLoreto of the New Jersey Food Council expressed concern about the parameters about transferring or selling inactive licenses. DeLoreto noted that the three-year window to use a license may not be long enough in some cases where redevelopment is concerned.

Sarlo said that was not the bill’s intent and that it can be fixed legislatively if it becomes a problem.

Meanwhile, Lori Buckelew, director of government affairs for the New Jersey League of Municipalities, said that while her organization appreciates the efforts of the Legislature, it is concerned about the fact that permits can be transferred only to contiguous municipalities.

This is the latest in a line of bills aimed at addressing what Gov. Phil Murphy referred to as an “antiquated” system during last year’s State of the State address.

A previous bill passed the Legislature but was met with a conditional veto from Murphy. The new bill, S4265, addresses many of the same issues as that bill while taking some of the governor’s recommendations into consideration.

Earlier this week: Compromise bill expanding NJ liquor license reform moves forward

What else would the legislation do?

The bill will be considered by the full state Senate on Monday — as the current legislative session nears its close — before moving for approval in the Assembly before it heads to the desk of Gov. Phil Murphy for approval.

The legislation would allow New Jersey breweries, cideries, meaderies and craft distilleries to hold an unlimited number of on-premises special events and private parties as well as 25 off-premises special events and 25 social affair events.

It also would allow them to offer certain types of food and coordinate with food vendors.

It would create a farm brewery license, whose holder — if actively engaged in farming — would be able to make up to 2,500 barrels of any malt alcoholic beverages per year. There is already a farm winery license for $375 to produce up to 50,000 gallons of wine per year, provided that the licensee is using locally grown products to produce the wine.

The brewery version would be similar, in that licensees would have to use locally grown farm products in brewing malt beverages, which would be sold at the farm.

The so-called pocket licenses, inactive licenses that exist in towns throughout the state, are also addressed.

The bill would require all inactive licenses to be used or transferred to another person or municipality. If they aren’t, they would expire at the end of their terms unless conditions are met. The stipulation on transfers between municipalities, though, is that they would be allowed only to bordering towns.

The director of the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control would be responsible for dividing the current inactive Class C licenses into four groups based on the total length of time the licenses have been inactive. The group that has been inactive the longest would be transferred within one year of the bill’s effective date, the second after two years, the third after three years and the fourth after four years.

Municipalities would also be able to issue special licenses for businesses at shopping malls. There would be two allowed in each town for malls at least 750,000 square feet and four for malls of 1,500,000 square feet.

The new bill does not address Murphy’s call to expand the liquor license program overall, something he said would benefit small family-owned restaurants, calling them the “heart and soul of many of our communities and downtowns.”

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ liquor license reform legislation moves forward for vote