Best Liquors hearing - sooner is better

Local officials are asking the state to move up a hearing date on the revocation of a west side liquor store's license from the 2008 date set last week.

Assistant Borough Attorney Thomas J. Hall received a letter in August that a hearing date on the borough's revocation of Best Liquors' alcohol distribution license has been set for March 5, 2008, at the Office of Administrative Law in Mercerville in front of Judge Joseph Martone.

If this date stands, the hearing will take place nine months after the Borough Council revoked the Leighton Avenue liquor store's alcohol distribution license in a special hearing in June.

"This isn't an issue that should languish any longer for residents of that area," said Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck (R-12) last week. "Best Liquors was so flagrant with their violations, we need to make sure they continue not having that license."

Beck, a former Red Bank councilwoman, sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Anne Milgram and Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Jerry Fischer asking them to use any influence they may have over the Office of Administrative Law to "expedite the appeal process for Best Liquors."

"Without question, Best Liquors has displayed neither the responsibility nor the respect of the law to be allowed to continue operating," Beck said in the Aug. 30 letter. "In light of their long history of violations and impropriety, there is little doubt that the revocation of their license is warranted. However, as this appeal process continues to drag out, Best Liquors has remained open."

Beck, who had previously gone door to door before the June 14 council hearing, encouraging residents to attend the hearing in a show of support for the license revocation, said Thursday the real focus of her efforts right now is to get the hearing moved up.

"Obviously an early resolution is favorable to everyone including the licensee but sometimes we may not have control over court schedules," said Mayor Pasquale Menna Thursday. He also said Hall had asked for an expedited hearing as part of the original court documents.

"I haven't heard from the mayor yet but we will probably send a letter [about moving up the hearing]," said Hall Sept. 4. At the time he was not sure if the letter would be sent to the ABC or the Office of Administrative Law or both.

Beck also has plans to meet with borough resident and Best Liquors neighbor Krishna Tyler Sept. 5 "to discuss the importance of providing a liquor-free environment for our children in Red Bank," according to Tyler via an Aug. 18 e-mail.

Tyler also continues in the e-mail, "Liquor stores are prone to robbery. (A clerk who was working in the Leighton Avenue liquor store was robbed at gunpoint). One time is once too many for such a violent act to be committed where children frequent liquor stores to buy candy."

Tyler, who said she has worked for two years on this issue, plans to take her cause about banning liquor stores in residential neighborhoods national by attending a conference in Washington, D.C., Sept. 30-Oct. 2.

The American Planning Association's (APA) 2007 Federal Policy and Program Briefing is aimed toward advocacy and meeting with legislators to address issues at a federal level, according to APA Public Affairs Coordinator Denny Johnson.

Tyler said she is "more determined than ever to talk to legislators about how changes like the one she is pushing for can benefit the community, children and family.

"This is a residential area where children are raised and we would like to have a family-oriented environment," said Tyler, Leighton Avenue. It's everybody's right, this is not a liquor store owner's right, it's the residents' right to see how they can change the neighborhood for the better."

In a special hearing June 28, the Borough Council found Best Liquors liable on six charges, four of which included sale of alcohol to underage persons.

The other charges included possession of a quantity of cigarettes without the required New Jersey Revenue Stamp and employing a person to sell alcohol at the store "who was not a registered employee authorized to sell alcoholic beverages," according to Hall.

The west side liquor store has continued to operate because store owner Pankaj "Sunny" Sharma's attorney appealed the council's revocation of the liquor license to the ABC. The appeal stayed the revocation pending the ABC hearing.

Sharma is represented by Samuel Reale Jr., a member of the Willingboro law firm Kearns, Vassallo & Kearns. John F. Vassallo Jr., the Vassallo of Kearns, Vassallo & Kearns, was counsel for the ABC for many years, Menna confirmed.

Hall had filed a motion with the ABC to dissolve the stay of the revocation of Best Liquor's license on July 12 after the fifth incident of selling alcohol to a person under the legal age occurred July 10 at the west side liquor store that has been the subject of complaints by neighboring residents.

A July 25 hearing before the ABC was cancelled after the borough dropped new charges against Best Liquors.

In a July 19 letter, Hall said the borough was withdrawing a motion asking the ABC to lift the stay.

The borough also dropped the seventh charge against the store, which was selling alcohol to a minor after Javier Lopez- Ruiz, 19, who bought alcoholic beverages on the evening of July 10, recanted his sworn statement and admitted he showed the clerk false identification, according to Hall.

The borough also canceled a July 26 special meeting on those charges.

Best Liquors first came onto the borough's radar when two neighbors of the liquor store, which is situated in a residential neighborhood, attended a council meeting last summer to complain about people loitering outside of the store. The residents alleged that people were loitering outside the store and allegedly using and selling drugs. Residents also complained about quality-of-life issues like urinating in public and littering on the front lawns of neighbors.

Tyler, whose husband John was one of the neighbors who registered complaints, said Thursday that her plight is not about politics. (John Tyler is running for the borough council on the Republican ticket in the upcoming election.)

"Liquor stores pollute and distort children's view of a clean community," said Tyler in the Aug. 18 e-mail. "We want a liquor-free environment for our children. They should not see liquor stores or walk by liquor stores in the very place they live."