State moves up Best Liquors license hearing
BY MELISSA KARSH Staff Writer

RED BANK - After prodding by local officials, the hearing date on the revocation of a west side liquor store's license has been moved up to Dec. 19, according to Assistant Borough Attorney Thomas J. Hall.

Hall sent a letter asking officials to expedite the hearing on the revocation of the alcohol distribution license for Best Liquors, Leighton Avenue, in September.

Hall had previously received a letter in August from the Office of Administrative Law that a hearing date had been set for March 5, 2008, which would have been nine months after the Borough Council revoked the liquor store's alcohol distribution license at a special hearing in June.

"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 in September. He also said Hall had asked for an expedited hearing as part of the original court documents.

The December hearing will take place at the Office of Administrative Law in Mercerville in front of Judge Joseph Martone, according to Hall.

Assemblywoman Jennifer Beck, a former Red Bank councilwoman, also 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 help "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."

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 police reported 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 canceled 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-oflife issues like urinating in public and littering on the front lawns of neighbors.