[Adopted 1-1-1982 by Ord. No. 81-12 as Ch. V of the 1982 Recodification]
This article is enacted for the purpose of regulating the sale and transportation of alcoholic beverages in the Borough of East Rutherford, in the County of Bergen, in accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 38:1-1 et seq. and in accordance with the rules and regulations issued or to be promulgated by the State Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control applicable thereto.
All applications for licenses under this article and all licenses issued thereunder and proceedings in connection therewith shall be subject to N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq. and said rules and regulations of said State Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control of New Jersey applicable thereto and shall be subject to any other statutes of New Jersey or of the United States, now extant or hereafter enacted, affecting said subject matters.
A. 
The Borough Council of the Borough of East Rutherford, being the governing body of said municipality, shall constitute the authority for the administration of issuance of licenses under this article and shall forthwith report the issuance of all such licenses to said State Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control. No licenses shall be issued except after written application presented by the proposed licensee, upon forms approved by the governing body, and after conformity with publication of notice and otherwise as required by said Act.
B. 
No license shall be issued to any person, firm, corporation, group or partnership not fully qualified under the provisions of said Act and said rules and regulations.
It shall be unlawful to sell or distribute alcoholic beverages in the borough without a license previously applied for and granted in pursuance of the provisions of said Act.
All applications for licenses shall set forth in full answers to questions prescribed by law and by the rules and regulations of said State Director and shall include declarations called for by said provisions. "Weekdays" is hereby defined as the days of Monday through and including Saturday. Sunday is the only day which is not considered a weekday.
Any and all written objections and petitions filed protesting against the issuance of any alcoholic beverage license or the granting of a license transfer shall be dated and signed after the first advertisement of the notice of application has been published.
All licenses shall be for a term of one year from the first day of July in each year, and all fees shall be paid in advance upon presentation of the application; provided, however, that any licensee, except a seasonal retail consumption licensee, who shall voluntarily surrender his license and who shall not have committed any violation of this article or of any rules or regulations and who shall have paid all taxes, setoffs or counterclaims that may have become due to the State of New Jersey or to the Borough of East Rutherford shall be entitled, after deduction of 50% of said fee, as a surrender fee to the prorated fee for the unexpired term.
Licenses shall not be transferable, except in the manner provided for by the provisions of the aforesaid Act.
A. 
No license for the sale of alcoholic beverages in the Borough of East Rutherford of any category, as the same are set forth and defined in N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq., shall be hereinafter issued for or transferred to premises within a five-hundred-foot radius of the premises for which any category of license for the sale of alcoholic beverages is outstanding. Said five-hundred-foot radius shall be measured in the normal way that a pedestrian would properly walk from the nearest entrance of the licensed premises to the nearest entrance of the premises sought to be licensed; provided, however, that this section shall not prevent the renewal of licenses for presently licensed premises or the person-to-person transfer of any licenses where such licensed premises are located within a five-hundred-foot radius of any other licensed premises.
B. 
Notwithstanding any provision of this article, the governing body of the Borough of East Rutherford may issue or transfer a license for the sale of alcoholic beverages of any category, as the same are set forth and defined in N.J.S.A. 33:1-1 et seq., within a five-hundred-foot radius of the premises for which a license for the sale of alcoholic beverages of any category is outstanding, if extraordinary and exceptional circumstances necessitate an exception to the five-hundred-foot radius limitation. Exceptions to the five-hundred-foot radius limitation will only be granted upon approval of four members of the governing body of the Borough of East Rutherford.
A. 
Plenary retail consumption license. The fee for a plenary retail consumption license shall be $1,036.80, and the holder of such license shall be entitled, subject to rules and regulations, to sell for consumption on the licensed premises any alcoholic beverages by the glass or other open receptacles and also to sell all alcoholic beverages in original containers for consumption off the licensed premises. The issuance of plenary retail consumption licenses shall be limited to 23 applicants who have duly qualified.
[Amended 4-18-1989 by Ord. No. 89-8; 4-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-7; 5-21-1991 by Ord. No. 91-06; 8-18-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14; 5-18-1993 by Ord. No. 93-14; 5-17-1994 by Ord. No. 94-3]
B. 
Plenary retail distribution license. The fee for a plenary retail distribution license shall be the sum of $900, and the holder of such license shall be entitled, subject to rules and regulations, to sell any alcoholic beverages for consumption off the licensed premises, but only in original containers. The issuance of plenary retail distribution licenses shall be limited to five applicants who have duly qualified.
[Amended 4-18-1989 by Ord. No. 89-8; 4-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-7; 5-21-1991 by Ord. No. 91-06; 8-18-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14; 5-18-1993 by Ord. No. 93-14; 5-17-1994 by Ord. No. 94-3; 2-21-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-03]
C. 
Club license.
(1) 
The annual fee for a club license shall be the sum of $100, and the holder of such license shall be entitled, subject to rules and regulations, to sell only to bona fide club members and their guests alcoholic beverages intended for immediate consumption on the licensed premises.
(2) 
Club licenses shall be issued only to such corporations, associations and organizations as are operated for benevolent, charitable, fraternal, social, religious, recreational, athletic or similar purposes and not for private gain, and such licenses shall be subject to the qualifications, conditions and restrictions imposed by said State Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
(3) 
Each application for a club license shall set forth the names and addresses of all officers, trustees, directors or other governing officials of the applying club, corporation or association
D. 
The fee for a hotel/motel license shall be $1,209.60.
[Added 4-10-1990 by Ord. No. 90-7; amended 5-21-1991 by Ord. No. 91-6; 8-18-1992 by Ord. No. 92-14; 5-18-1993 by Ord. No. 93-14; 5-17-1994 by Ord. No. 94-3]
A. 
Licensed premises may be open:
[Amended 12-17-1996 by Ord. No. 96-29; 11-21-2006 by Ord. No. 2006-25]
(1) 
On Monday through Thursday from 6:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. of the following day.
[Amended 6-18-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-09]
(2) 
On Friday and Saturdays from 6:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. of the following day.
[Amended 6-18-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-09]
(3) 
On Sundays from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m. of the following day.
(4) 
On December 25 and January 1, the premises may remain open until 4:00 a.m.
(5) 
Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this § 95-11A, any part of the licensed premises lying outside of a building shall close no later than 10:00 p.m. on Sunday through Thursday night and 11:00 p.m. on Friday and Saturday nights. The remainder of the business conducted under the applicable license within a building may be open as otherwise provided in this § 95-11.
[Added 7-15-2014 by Ord. No. 2014-13]
B. 
The hours referred to in Subsection A shall be determined with reference to the prevailing time, that is, standard time or daylight saving time, whichever shall be in effect on the day in question.
[Amended 10-16-2012 by Ord. No. 2012-12]
C. 
During the hours sales of alcoholic beverages are prohibited, all window and door curtains on any premises licensed hereunder shall be maintained in a fully raised position so that the public may have clear, unimpeded vision into the interior of such premises.
D. 
During the hours hereinabove set forth when the sale, service, delivery or consumption of alcoholic beverages is prohibited, all licensed premises operating under a plenary retail consumption license, except hotels, bowling alleys and restaurants, as hereinafter defined, must likewise be closed, and the licensee shall allow no person other than employees to remain upon the licensed premises. In hotels, bowling alleys and restaurants, as hereinafter defined, and in clubs entitled under the law and the state rules and regulations to club licenses, the room in which the alcoholic beverages are kept for sale, commonly known as the "barroom," must likewise be kept closed and securely locked during such prohibited time, and the licensee and any of his or its employees or any other person shall not be allowed to enter therein. In a restaurant, as hereinafter defined, having no room commonly known as a "barroom" but having a bar located within the room in which the food is served, the bar, during such prohibited time, must be completely screened by an open grill of not more than three-inch mesh or open ironwork approved by the Mayor and Council to a height of not less than four feet above the level of the bar, and all approaches to said bar must be securely locked. A "restaurant" under this section shall be construed and is defined to be an establishment regularly and principally used for the purpose of providing meals to the public, having an adequate kitchen and dining room kept for the purpose of preparing, cooking and serving of food, and in which dining room food is served at tables by waiters other than the person known as the "bartender."[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Subsection E, regarding the sale of alcoholic beverages on Sundays, added 4-18-1983 by Ord. No. 83-6, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 2-21-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-02.
A. 
Any person, except an officer or other person authorized by and acting pursuant to instructions of said officer, so doing in the course of and for the purpose of enforcing said act, who shall knowingly purchase, receive or procure any illicit beverage shall be guilty of violating this article.
B. 
Any person who shall sell or distribute any alcoholic beverages or who shall own, possess or keep in said Borough of East Rutherford alcoholic beverages with intent to sell or distribute alcoholic beverages or who shall aid or abet another in the sale or distribution of alcoholic beverages without complying with the requirement of this article shall be guilty of a violation of this article.
[1]
Editor's Note: See also Ch. 1, General Provisions, Art. III, Violations and Penalties.
A. 
Any license issued under this article may be suspended or revoked for violation of any of the provisions of this article or any of the provisions of said act or said statutes heretofore mentioned or of any of the regulations and rules prescribed by said State Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
B. 
The Mayor and Council of the Borough of East Rutherford further reserve the right to alter or amend this article and to make such rules and regulations as from time to time shall be deemed necessary and proper, and all licenses issued hereunder shall be subject to such rules and regulations, and all licenses hereafter issued shall be revocable for violations of such further rules and regulations; provided, however, that such further rules and regulations shall be consistent with the laws of the state.
C. 
Proceedings for suspension or revocation shall be in accordance with the provisions of said Act, by service of a five-day notice of charges preferred against the licensee, as provided in said Act, and affording of a reasonable opportunity for a hearing, and such suspension or revocation shall carry the penalties and prohibitions provided for in said Act.
Nothing herein contained shall be construed to permit the licensing of any person, firm, corporation, group or partnership to conduct or maintain a business for the sale of alcoholic beverages on property within the territorial limits of the Borough of East Rutherford, contrary to any zoning ordinance in force in the said borough,[1] or any amendments thereof or supplements thereto now or hereafter enacted.
[1]
Editor's Note: See Ch. 389, Zoning.