ASSEMBLY, No. 1955

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

219th LEGISLATURE

 

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2020 SESSION

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  SERENA DIMASO

District 13 (Monmouth)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Allows certain qualifying projects to sell alcoholic beverages.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel.

  


An Act concerning alcoholic beverage licenses and supplementing Title 33 of the Revised Statutes. 

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.    a.  As used in this act:

     “Architecturally significant structure” means a building that is notable for its style of architecture.  

     “Historic building” means a building that is included in the New Jersey Register of Historic Places established pursuant to P.L.1970, c.268 (C.13:1B-15.128 et seq.).

     “Qualifying project” means a historic building that is: located within a redevelopment area; at least 1,500,000 gross square feet; a multi-use or mixed use development project; and an architecturally significant structure.

     "Redevelopment area" means an area determined to be in need of redevelopment pursuant to sections 5 and 6 of P.L.1992, c.79 (C.40A:12A-5 and 40A:12A-6);

     b.    A municipality may issue two special permits which shall be used in connection with a qualifying project for which an agreement has been entered into between a developer and a municipality pursuant to the “Long Term Tax Exemption Law,” P.L.1991, c.431 (C.40A:20-1 et seq.).  The special permit shall entitle the permit holder to sell any alcoholic beverage for consumption by the glass or other receptacle in or upon the premises of a qualifying project.  

     c.     The application for the permit shall be submitted on an annual basis to the governing body of the issuing municipality. The fee for the permit shall be $25,000 for the first year of the permit’s issuance and $15,000 for each year thereafter. 

     d.    For 15 years immediately following the initial issuance of the permit the fee shall be distributed in the following manner:

     (1)   Twenty percent shall be paid to the eligible municipality wherein the redevelopment plan is adopted; and

     (2)   Eighty percent shall be divided equally among and paid to the active plenary retail consumption licensees in the eligible municipality or municipalities in which the premises will be located, excluding plenary consumption licensees located or affiliated with a shopping mall as defined in this bill.

     e.     On the first day of the 181st month following the initial issuance of the permit, the annual fee shall be paid to the eligible municipality wherein the redevelopment plan is adopted. 

     f.     The holder of a permit who, following the effective date of this act, obtains an interest in a plenary retail consumption license within the eligible municipality shall not receive a fee pursuant to subsection d. of this section. 

     g.    Except in the case of a revoked permit, the municipal issuing authority, for good cause and after a hearing, may authorize the person to whom the permit is issued to maintain the permit in an inactive status for more than six months upon demonstration that the person is making a good faith effort to actively use, or resume active use of, the permit. 

     h.    A person who would fail to qualify as a holder of a plenary retail consumption license under Title 33 of the Revised Statutes shall not be authorized to hold an interest in a permit issued pursuant to the provisions of this section.

     i.     The holder of this permit shall not sell or transfer the permit for use in connection with a premises that is not a qualifying project as defined by subsection a. of this section.

     j.     The restriction in section 2 of P.L.1947, c.94 (C.33:1-12.14) concerning the number of retail consumption licenses that may be issued in a municipality shall not be applicable to a permit issued pursuant to this section.

 

     2.    This act shall take effect immediately. 

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill allows a municipality to issue two special permits to sell alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises of a “qualifying development project.”  The bill defines a “qualifying development project” as a historic building that is located within a redevelopment area; at least 1,500,000 gross square feet; a multi-use or mixed use development project; and an architecturally significant structure.

     The bill also requires that the special permit be used in connection with a qualifying project for which an agreement has been entered into between a developer and a municipality pursuant to the “Long Term Tax Exemption Law,” P.L.1991, c.431 (C.40A:20-1 et seq.). 

     The application for the permit is to be submitted on an annual basis to the governing body of the issuing municipality.  The annual fee for the permit is to be $25,000 for the first year of the permit’s issuance and $15,000 for each year thereafter.  For 15 years immediately following the initial issuance of the permit, the fee is to be distributed to the eligible municipality (20%) and the other licensees in the municipality (80%).  Following the initial 15 year period, the entire fee is to be distributed to the eligible municipality.   

     Finally, the special permit would not be subject to the population limitation that restricts a municipality from issuing more than one plenary retail consumption license for every 3,000 persons residing in that municipality.