By Gene Robbins, Managing Editor
Getting a beer, a burger and bet — all in one place in town — has taken another step forward.
The New Jersey Racing Commission at its Wednesday meeting at Monmouth Park approved, with conditions, the application for an off-track horse race wagering (OTW) site in the former Maestro’s restaurant just south of Brown Avenue on Route 206.
The governor’s office has 10 days to approve the minutes — and thus the actions — of the commission. Following that, the application moves to the Attorney General for review and sign-off.
“Since the beginning, I have said this process has been fundamentally flawed in a home-rule state and hope the Attorney General will allow Hillsborough to properly vet this project before our Planning Board,” said Mayor Doug Tomson.
The approval advances a proposal first made 18 months ago. From the beginning, township officials said there was little they could do to stop it. A 2011 state law allows off-track wagering operations in any commercial or industrially zoned site in the state, subject to the approval of the Racing Commission and the state Attorney General.
The state Legislature said its intention was to protect and encourage the horse industry in the state.
The OTW would have separate but connected restaurant and wagering areas in the facility, which would be called Favorites at Hillsborough Township. There would be simulcasts of standardbred and thoroughbred horse racing from around the country most days of the year. A $20 million annual handle is projected.
One of the conditions, said Mayor Tomson, was that Darby Development, which would run the operation, would provide a report every three months on crime, parking and motor vehicle accidents at the site. He said commissioners said traffic wasn’t an issue, with which Mr. Tomson said publicly afterwards he heartily disagreed.
He wanted Darby to provide security or hire township police on the most popular race days, to which Darby agreed, he said.
The commission held a mandatory public hearing in Hillsborough on July 22, but commissioners heard only comments and made none of their own.
At that hearing, Darby showed data and photos of what the restaurant and betting areas would look like after it made a $3.6 million purchase of the site at a bankruptcy sale and $2 million in renovations.
A week after the hearing, the racing commission made public the full application on the day the comment period ended.
Four requests through the Open Public Records Act were made, and the township government posted the full application on its website.
The Hillsborough site would be somewhat close — just outside the law’s mandated buffer zone — from the nearest OTW in Woodbridge, 20 miles away. The formal applicant, the New Jersey Horsemen’s Association, and Hillsborough Township have signed an agreement for a payment in lieu of property taxes that would pay Hillsborough about $30,000 a year, less than the $42,000 paid by the former restaurant.
The commission made three decisions, according to the legal notice. The body had to issue a license to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, from which all such licenses emanate. The commission then voted to transfer the license to the Thoroughbred Horsemen’s Association, which would lease the operation to Darby Development.
State legislators representing Hillsborough have called for a change in the law. to allow local authority to challenge and disapprove. Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli said July 22 that OTWs should be in densely populated areas with infrastructure to support them.
Favorites would have separate bar, restaurant and betting areas, with televisions throughout. Best customers would have access to a separate, private room. The facility is planned to open daily at 11 a.m. every day and close at 11 p.m. Monday through Thursday, midnight on Friday, 12:30 a.m. on Saturday and 10 p.m. on Sunday.
An estimated 40 full- and part-time jobs for managers, clerks, guest services, secretarial and cleaning would be created. There would be another 40 full- and part-time employees for the restaurant management, wait staff, cooks and kitchen workers.The restaurant would be operated by McLoone’s Management, the same people who run dining services at the Woodbridge site.
There are an estimated 80 parking spaces in the lot. Darby has said it would contract with a media business across Park Avenue for 34 spaces for employees on weekends. On busiest racing days, Favorites would use a valet service to park cars offsite, representatives said in July.
