Hearing set on liquor fees

Borough business owners bemoan proposed hike.

By: David Campbell
   The Princeton Borough Council is expected to hold a public hearing tonight on an ordinance that would increase annual licensing fees for liquor stores, bars and restaurants that serve alcoholic beverages in the borough’s central business district.
   Last month, the council introduced the measure by a 5-0 vote, with Councilwoman Wendy Benchley absent.
   Proprietors of Community Liquors, The Alchemist & The Barrister and The Princeton Corkscrew Wine Shop turned out to oppose the ordinance. Alchemist & Barrister co-owner Tom Schmierer told the council that the fee increase, alongside other rising local and state costs, combine to become "a perfect storm" for small, independently owned businesses like his.
   At introduction last month, the merchants claimed the measure would bring in only modest revenue to the borough — hardly making a dent in property-tax relief efforts — while imposing a hardship on a small number of local businesses. Community Liquors co-owner Mark Bovenizer called the roughly 20-percent increase under the ordinance a "small-business tax" that could result in staff cuts at his store.
   But Council President Mildred Trotman indicated at introduction that the increase contemplated under the ordinance is modest in light of how long it has been since the last increase — more than 20 years.
   Borough Administrator Robert W. Bruschi said state regulations have been amended to give municipalities the ability to charge more for existing licenses, and the proposed increase in fees would be the maximum permitted.
   On Monday, Mr. Bovenizer said mounting fees could drive small businesses out of the downtown, claiming that at some point bigger franchises and chain stores may be the only ones that can afford to do business in the borough.
   "There will be a breaking point at some point," he said. "Princeton’s character is mom-and-pop shops." He also said someone familiar with and sympathetic to merchant concerns is needed on the council.
   Under the ordinance, the annual fee charged to downtown merchants holding a plenary retail consumption license — which covers bars and restaurants that serve alcohol — would rise from $2,000 to $2,400 this year and to $2,500 per year beginning in 2006. The ordinance would fix the same increase in the annual fee to holders of a plenary retail distribution license, which covers liquor stores.
   There are a total of 18 such licenses for bars, restaurants and liquor stores in the borough — 12 consumption and six retail, according to Borough Clerk Lea Quinty. The last time the fees were increased was in the late 1970s and early 1980s, the clerk has said.
   The ordinance also would raise the fee for a club license from $150 to $188 a year.
   In other business tonight, the council is expected to hear a presentation on ongoing efforts to address the problem of underage drinking by Princeton University students at the Prospect Avenue eating clubs.
   Presenters will include representatives of the university and the Graduate InterClub Council, the governing body of the eating clubs; Corner House, the nonprofit counseling agency for borough and Princeton Township adolescents, young adults and their families; and the Princeton Alcohol and Drug Alliance. The alliance comprises volunteers from the community, representatives from local schools, substance-abuse treatment centers and members of the two municipal governing bodies of Princeton.
   In 2003, an ordinance was proposed in the borough that would have permitted police officers to enforce underage drinking laws on private property, including the clubs, but the measure was never implemented. Rather, municipal officials endorsed a proposal by the clubs to address the problem themselves, through such efforts as training for club officers to prevent alcohol intoxication and underage drinking; first aid training; hiring professional security guards to check identification at club entrances; and offering non-alcoholic options in club tap rooms.
   Corner House Executive Director Gary DeBlasio said Monday that the presentation is given each year to update the council on ongoing efforts. "It was decided a better way to handle the problem was to engage the students in active dialogue," he said.
   Councilwoman Peggy Karcher, the council’s liaison to PADA, said Monday, "The borough has had a problem over the years with drinking going on either at the eating clubs or in the vicinity of the clubs."
   One subject she said could come up tonight is that of "Newman’s Day" on campus, which occurs on April 24, in which students attempt to drink 24 beers in 24 hours. The name of the day stems from a quote erroneously attributed to the actor Paul Newman. Legend has it that in a speech at Princeton University, Mr. Newman quipped, "Twenty-four beers in a case, 24 hours in a day. Coincidence? I think not."