An appeal has been filed to overturn Beach Haven Council’s denial to the expand The Ketch’s liquor license to The Boathouse restaurant across the street. The formal request to the state Department of Law and Public Safety's Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control was filed by Ketch owner Michael Battista.
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| Photo via Google The Boathouse is currently BYOB. |
Since council adopted a denial resolution that had been written prior to voting at the Feb. 17 meeting, the members were required by law to give the applicant at least five days’ notice as well as an opportunity to be heard, the appeal notes.
Mayor Nancy Taggart Davis said a resolution approving the expansion with conditions, such as disallowing the business to have a nightclub or customer bar as well as requiring it to close daily at 11 p.m. and provide extra parking, was also prepared beforehand. She said both resolutions were written by Bruce Padula, borough attorney, and then circulated to the council members. There was no discussion about the project, she stressed.
“Each person looked at the resolutions independently and everybody voted specifically for what they thought was the best for Beach Haven, and it was a unanimous vote not to grant the extension of the liquor license. There was absolutely no coercion of anybody,” Taggart Davis stated. “The other party has a right to appeal to the liquor control board, so the ball now is really in the board’s court. It’s pretty much out of our hands.”
The approved denial resolution, the appeal states, is founded on information that is unrelated to the request or was ignored or not presented in the application or at the public meetings.
That the move would “create competition for the same ‘vacation dollars’ and an ‘unfair advantage’ over other members of the Beach Haven business community ... are not ever valid legal grounds for denying a transfer application for a single license premises operated and managed as a single enterprise in accordance with well-settled law,” according to the appeal.
Developer William Burris and his partners had an agreement to acquire The Ketch from Battista this coming November. However, the contract was contingent on the approval of expanding the restaurant’s liquor license to The Boathouse, which would allow both buildings to run as one operation.
“This arrangement was fully made known to the Respondent Issuing Authority so there was no confusion as to the ownership and operation of the License after approval of the transfer application,” the appeal states.
Council’s resolution notes the road between the two restaurants is regularly traveled by the public. But the applicant had “advised that no alcoholic beverage service or consumption would take place in the right of way,” the appeal states.
Although council had said borough police would provide testimony regarding the quality of life issues that stem from The Ketch, the information was not presented in public and the applicant was not able to cross examine it, Burris noted.
“It’s just not right,” he said.
The Boathouse does not have a license to serve alcohol, though the town has allowed exceptions for some weddings. Burris is purchasing The Boathouse in the fall and turning it into the new Black Whale Bar & Fish House. The local Nugent and Magaziner families will continue running the business using its own liquor license.
The Black Whale is set to open at its current location on March 24. The building will be torn down later.
If the ruling is overturned, however, “we obviously want it,” Burris said.
“That changes everything, of course,” he stated. “If (Batista) gets the approval, obviously we’re willing to go forward with the deal. But if he doesn’t get the approval, we’re not. That’s all.”
Battista could not be reached for comment.
— Kelley Anne Essinger
This article was published in The SandPaper.
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