[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Council
of the Township of Ewing as indicated in article histories. Amendments
noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Fees — See Ch. 172.
[Adopted 11-24-1998 by Ord. No. 98-13 as
Ch. 51, Art. I, of the 1998 Code]
This article is enacted to regulate the sale
and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the Township of Ewing
in accordance with the provisions of an act of the Legislature of
the State of New Jersey entitled "An Act Concerning Alcoholic Beverages,"
comprising Chapter 436 of the Laws of 1933, its supplements and amendments,
and also comprising N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq., and in accordance with
the rules and regulations of the State Director of Alcoholic Beverage
Control.
As used in this article, words and phrases shall
have the same meanings they have in N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq. and the
rules and regulations of the Director of the Division of Alcoholic
Beverage Control (N.J.A.C. 13:1 et seq.).
A.
Laws applicable. All applications for licenses, all licenses issued and all proceedings under this article shall be in accordance with the act, rules and regulations referred to in § 91-1 and all other applicable laws of the State of New Jersey or of the United States.
B.
Issuing authority. All licenses required by this article
shall be issued by the Township Council, which shall also administer
the provisions of this article through the Municipal Clerk.
C.
License required. No person shall sell, serve or distribute alcoholic beverages within the Township without having obtained a license in accordance with the act referred to in § 91-1 and the provisions of this article.
D.
License fee. The annual license fees for the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages in the Township shall be as set forth in Chapter 172, Fees.
E.
Restriction; certain premises and businesses prohibited.
No plenary retail consumption or distribution license shall be issued
or transferred to any premises or business enterprise, which business
purpose or use is other than the dispensing of, dispensing of with
food or distribution of alcoholic beverages.
F.
Minimum
bid for hotel/motel license.
[Added 3-27-2012 by Ord.
No. 12-05]
(1)
The
Township may issue a new license to a person who operates a hotel
or motel containing 100 guest sleeping rooms or who may hereafter
construct and establish a new hotel or motel containing at least 100
guest sleeping rooms.
(2)
A person who holds a license issued pursuant to Subsection F(1) and who has been required by law to reduce the number of sleeping rooms in the hotel may continue to hold the license if the hotel has at least 75 sleeping rooms, has been in continuous operation for at least 120 years in the same building, and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
(3)
A minimum
bid not to exceed $25,000 plus $50 per sleeping room is required for
the issuance of a license to a hotel or motel if the dining facilities
of the hotel or motel are regularly and principally used to provide
only meals for catered events and breakfast for guests of the hotel
or motel.
[Amended 10-14-2014 by Ord. No. 14-25]
A.
Hours
of sale; persons on premises prohibited after closing. No alcoholic
beverages shall be sold, consumed in or delivered to a licensed premises
on any day between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. No licensee
shall suffer, permit or allow any person on the premises during such
hours, except those whose presence is required for a bona fide commercial,
business or official reason other than the sale, purchase, consumption
or delivery of alcoholic beverages. Additionally, no licensee shall
sell spirituous liquors in original containers for consumption off
the licensed premises (package goods) before 9:00 a.m. or after 10:00
p.m. on any day of the week.
B.
Display of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome (FAS) warning signs. All licensees who sell alcoholic beverages pursuant to this article shall prominently post on their premises a warning sign describing the dangers to the unborn children of women who consume alcoholic beverages while pregnant. The nature and type of warning sign shall be determined by the Board of Health, which shall prepare and distribute the warning signs. Any licensee violating the provisions of this subsection shall be subject to a penalty as provided for in Chapter 1, General Provisions, Article III, General Penalty.
No person shall be served alcoholic beverages
in any room of any licensed premises which is not open to the public.
This section shall not apply to bona fide clubs holding a club license.
All premises in which alcoholic beverages are
sold or dispensed, except bona fide clubs holding club licenses under
the law and state rules and regulations and guest rooms and private
dining rooms in hotels, shall be so arranged that a full view of the
interior may be had from the public thoroughfare or from adjacent
rooms to which the public is freely admitted. All such premises shall
be lighted sufficiently so that a full view of the interior thereof
may be had at all hours from the public thoroughfare or from adjacent
rooms to which the public is freely admitted.
[Amended 2-24-2015 by Ord. No. 15-01]
A.
No
plenary retail consumption license or plenary retail distribution
license shall be issued for or transferred to premises within 1,000
feet of any other premises licensed under a plenary retail consumption
or plenary retail distribution license. This section shall not prevent
renewal for premises now licensed or person-to-person transfers of
such licenses. This section shall not prevent the transfer of any
existing license on a premises or structure which has been taken for
public use or destroyed to a new location within 1,000 feet of such
premises or structures. The Board, in its discretion, may grant an
exception to this section upon a finding of good cause based upon
the following factors, each of which shall be addressed by the applicant
in an application for a waiver of this section to the Board:
(1)
The proposed location's proximity to residential areas.
(2)
The number of other of retail consumption or plenary retail distribution
licenses within 1,000 feet of the proposed location.
(3)
Apart from this section, whether the proposed location could otherwise
be legally issued a retail consumption or plenary retail distribution
license.
(4)
If the proposed location is for a retail consumption license, whether
it will operate primarily as a restaurant or a tavern. "Restaurant"
for purposes of this section shall mean an establishment regularly
and principally used for providing meals to the public, having an
adequate kitchen and dining room equipped for the preparing, cooking
and serving of food for its customers.
(5)
If the proposed location is for a retail consumption license which
will operate primarily as a tavern or bar, the number of other such
licensees within 1,000 feet of the proposed location.
(6)
The proposed location's proximity to schools, playgrounds or parks.
(7)
The existence of other good cause.
B.
For
the purpose of this section, distance shall be measured in a normal
way that a pedestrian would properly walk from the nearest entrance
of existing premises to the nearest entrance of the premises sought
to be licensed.
The public peace, decency and good order shall
be maintained at all times in and about any premises licensed under
this article.
[Amended 11-24-2009 by Ord. No. 09-17]
No licensee or employee of the licensee shall
sell, serve or deliver, directly or indirectly, any alcoholic beverages
to a habitual drunkard or to an apparently or actually intoxicated
person, nor permit the consumption of alcoholic beverages on any licensed
premises by any of the above-named classes of persons, or permit any
such persons to congregate in or about the licensed premises.
A.
Any license issued under this article may be suspended
or revoked for violation of any of the provisions of this article
or any provision of any applicable statute or any of the rules and
regulations of the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage
Control.
B.
Proceedings for suspension or revocation shall be
in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 33:1-31 and the rules
and regulations of the Director of the Division of Alcohol Beverage
Control by service of a five-day notice of charges preferred against
the licensee and affording a reasonable opportunity for a hearing.
C.
Suspension or revocation of a license shall be in
addition to any other penalty which may be imposed for a violation
of this article.
[Adopted 11-24-1998 by Ord. No. 98-13 as
Ch. 51, Art. II, of the 1998 Code]
No person shall consume or possess in any open
container any alcoholic beverage in or upon any public place, including
but not limited to any public street, road, highway, alley, sidewalk,
mall, shopping center, park, playground, parking facility, parking
lot or in or on the premises of any public building.
[1]
Editor's Note: Former § 91-13, Public or private
vehicles, was repealed 1-10-2012 by Ord. No. 11-28.
Nothing herein shall be construed to prohibit the possession or consumption of alcoholic beverages upon one's own private property, nor within or upon premises duly licensed for the possession or consumption of same or a restaurant duly licensed for the consumption of food, nor the distribution, possession or consumption in any public place in connection with a recognized function for which express prior permission has been received in writing from the Municipal Clerk or the Superintendent of Recreation Programs or a designee, pursuant to § 252-1 of this Code.
Except as provided herein, any person found to be in violation of this article shall be subject to the penalties in Chapter 1, Article III, General Penalty.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Art. III, Consumption on Private Property
by Underage Persons, adopted 10-10-2000 by Ord. No. 00-27, which immediately followed
this section, was repealed 7-27-2021 by Ord. No. 21-18.
