RED BANK — Borough officials are taking a fresh look at the town’s bring-yourown bottle (BYOB) policies after a local pool hall owner was ordered to stop offering the service and has since shuttered his business.
James Hertler, owner of Lucky Break Billiards on West Front Street, appeared before the Borough Council on Nov. 25 to ask why local police had broken up a “private party” at the business in August and banned the practice more than 18 months after he set up shop.
“It seems like something has changed, and I don’t know what that is,” said Hertler, a Red Bank resident.
Mayor Pasquale Menna initially said a complaint had originated with the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), which is charged with issuing, regulating and enforcing commercial liquor licenses. Borough Administrator Stanley Sickels later said the matter had originated locally.
“Somebody saw something through a window and complained to the police,” he said. “That’s why we’re here.”
Under state BYOB laws, restaurants without a liquor license can allow patrons to bring their own wine or beer as long as there is no local ordinance strictly prohibiting it. Red Bank, like many other towns throughout the state, has no specific BYOB ordinance.
Hertler, who said Lucky Break provided small snacks to customers, had made it clear to the borough Zoning Board of Adjustment in 2011 that he intended to provide BYOB service at his facility. The board acknowledged that fact in its unanimous resolution of approval, Hertler said.
“I’ve tried to speak to different people in the borough as to what they want me to do, and I can’t get an answer,” he said. “In the meantime, my business has closed. This will turn into a vacancy. I don’t see how the net impact of this is a good thing for the borough of Red Bank.”
Borough officials said the zoning board has no authority to approve a BYOB operation in the borough, and that Hertler’s approval was conditional upon his satisfying the requirements of all applicable state and local statutes.
Hertler said those statutes can be extremely difficult to wade through.
“New Jersey has some of the most complicated liquor laws in the country,” he said.
Borough Attorney Daniel O’Hern acknowledged that state BYOB laws may be “somewhat vague,” but said their intent is quite clear.
“Not all laws are drafted as succinctly as we would like, but you have to look at the spirit and intent of the law,” he said, adding that the law wasn’t established to allow anyone to “open a business and serve a bag of popcorn” and allow BYOB practices in the process.
Council President Arthur Murphy agreed, saying that local art galleries, theaters and arcades would love to allow BYOB, as well.
“There is a fine line,” he said. “The
BYOB [permission] is not something that is just handed out.”
Menna and Murphy discussed some available avenues for local BYOB services, including professionally catered, private parties and boroughsanctioned special events that allow entertainment businesses to permit alcohol consumption. However, those parties must be closed to the public.
Hertler criticized the policy, saying Lucky Break’s BYOB policy had not led to any public disturbances and had proven lucrative for both his business and local shops that provide food to his customers.
“I had a party where Surf Taco made more money than I did,” he said. “It happens routinely.”
Hertler added that he would like to offer more food options in order to qualify as a full-fledged restaurant under state law, but the change would require costly equipment, upgrades and new sanitation standards.
Menna acknowledged the long history of licensed pool halls serving alcohol in Red Bank, but said a lax application of BYOB laws could allow convenience stores and similar operations throughout town to allow public drinking. Those laws, he said, cannot be tailored to suit any specific type of business and must be equally applicable for all entertainment enterprises in Red Bank.
“It essentially becomes an amendment — if we are going to change anything — of the land use law,” he said. “Those are a little more complicated.”
Ultimately, the council authorized O’Hern to draft some potential revisions to the borough’s BYOB regulations and present them at the next meeting on Dec. 4.