Bar Wars had a new sequel this week.
Morristown officials and Iron Bar owner Jimmy Cavanaugh squared off before a judge in Newark over curfews imposed on Cavanaugh’s Revolution beer hall.
“I think it went very well for us. They could not come up with a reason why they chose 11 o’clock or 11:30 pm” to shut down alcohol sales at Revolution, said Cavanaugh.
In 2014, the town council set alcohol curfews of 11:30 pm on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 pm on other nights as a condition for approving Cavanaugh’s expansion of his Iron Bar liquor license next door to Revolution, which at the time carried the proposed name of Iron Bistro.
The state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control stayed those curfews after Revolution opened last October, enabling it to serve alcohol until 2 am, like other bars in town.
Over two days of hearings this week before Administrative Law Judge Joan Bedrin Murray, Morristown officials attempted to justify the restrictions, which were imposed amid residents’ complaints that proliferating bars on South Street were leaving them awash in problems from rowdy patrons.
Cavanaugh’s side argued that the Iron Bar has no liquor license violations, he has invested large sums in his ventures, and council conditions have been inconsistent. An expansion of the Tashmoo Restaurant & Bar received an alcohol curfew of midnight from the council last year.
“I think we expressed what we were hoping to express,” said Council President Stefan Armington, after testifying for two hours.
Although Armington and Councilman Robert Iannaccone both voted against the Tashmoo expansion, citing legal concerns about the later curfew, Armington defended the council’s general approach.
“The town has consistently since 2012 made an attempt to work with applicants to approve expansions while minimizing adverse impacts of drinking through time restrictions,” he said.
The judge also heard testimony from former council President Rebecca Feldman, Fire Chief Robert Flanagan and Police Chief Pete Demnitz. Three Morristown residents testified in favor of the curfews, and at least one resident spoke against them.
Attorney Owen Weaver, representing the town, called town Planner Phil Abramson as a witness, but Revolution Attorney Robert C. Williams challenged his expertise on bar matters and Abramson did not testify, Cavanaugh said.
The judge has 45 days to forward her recommendation to the state ABC division, according to Cavanaugh.
But that’s just the beginning.
Separately, Cavanaugh is challenging the council’s denial of his request to expand the Iron Bar license a second time–for a Mexican restaurant to be called Gran Cantina. He also is suing the Morristown Parking Authority over access to an alley behind his bars.
And the question of council conditions for Revolution could start all over again in July–when its expanded license is up for renewal.
Expanding a liquor license to an adjacent property is not a loophole it’s the law, its no different than adding an addition onto an existing building the only difference is in the case of expansion the building already exists. Not everyone who owns a bar restaurant also owns the building it occupies. The arguement has no logic. The stirling tavern owns one half of the facility and leases the other half. Roots and Urban Table have expanded 3 times and lease their space, as does the Office Tavern.
This has been a complex issue since the 1800s when Market Street was known as Rum Alley and the Town’s most elegant new hotel located at the corner of Market St. and Park Place burned to the ground. That fire, which gutted the area all the way to Maple Ave.was started as a result of the carelessness of the patrons of a neighboring Saloon. near the current location of the Iron Bar. It also brought both a new firehouse and the Market Street mission to the area.
The property owner was so angry at the Town for allowing this to happen,that he left that corner as a hole in the ground for 20years, until Morristown’s first Mayor, George Cobb convinced him to let him purchase the property. He sold the property to local business men, like the Day family. They had a popular confectionary and restuarant there. That was where Hershey learned how to make chocolate.
It was during the 40s and 50s, when towns began to zone by seperating residential areas from business areas that the character of the neighborhood changed. The result was an abandoned downtown, when the businesses closed at night and the crime rate increased. There were fewer local customers for small retailers and little parking, in a downtown designed for the horse and buggy. Shopping at the new malls became more convenient. Adding parking lots only took additional property off the tax rolls.
Beginning in the 70’s after HQ Plaza Mall on Speedwell ave did not save our dying downtown. Changing attitudes towards the downtown then resulted in the restoration of the Green, making it an attraction once more. Parking lots were redesigned to include tax paying uses while adding needed parking downtown and residential uses were reintroduced downtown. This meant there were people downtown 24 hours a day and the crime rates were significantly reduced. Bars remained pretty much as before, until a loophole in the liquor license law enabled bar owners to use an existing license for a neighboring property and convert table space to bar only space, which added even more bar only customers and additional bars. As restaurants converted to late night bar uses, the problems resulting form those uses increased.
This isn’t a black and white issue. If everyone worked toward finding a reasonable balance of what is permitted or prohibited, Morristown will remain the wonderful vibrant community it has been striving to remain.
Agree Jim. This disdain for bars in town is tough to fathom. The younger working class who was driven to this town by the vibrant night scene want places they can go out to, dance, and drink two nights a week for a few hours. The council seems to mend their restrictions to a few people who want to read their books in silence in the town square at 11pm on a Friday night, and fails to realize these establishments have allowed home prices to appreciate considerably in the area.
Charles, the business s were there first in Morristown, developers seeing the vibrancy convinced the planners a residential mix would be great. So they marketed to milenials for the most part it worked, until a few octogenarians moved into the central business district, now because 10 out of 18,000 residents complain this has become a political issue. In the mean time property values are increasing like never before.
Thank You Eldon Priestly president of the 40 Park Condo association for being upfront about the dog owners allowing their pets to urinate and deficate in public areas, yes he is correct the urine smell is from this activity and not from the patrons of the bars and restaurants.
Can anyone explain why every town in NJ I’ve lived in (New Brunswick, Hoboken, Montclair, Morristown) with more than one or two bars always has some kind of ongoing clusterfudge like this? Why is this the only type of business that seems to generate so much controversy? Are we basically selling too many liquor licenses? Is it like owning a casino – a license to print money which then encourages sales at any cost? Is it poor zoning that drops bars next to residential neighborhoods? What is the deal?