Politics & Government

Will Liquor Be Sold on Former Fort Monmouth Eatontown Property?

Eatontown currently does not have any liquor licenses for sale.

By Christopher Sheldon

When Fort Monmouth closed, the liquor licenses that once existed on the property closed with it.

Now the question is whether or not the liquor licenses will return to Fort Monmouth once the property is redeveloped and occupied by homes and businesses.

The question was posed to Fort Monmouth Economic Revitalization Authority (FMERA) Executive Director Bruce Steadman at the most recent Eatontown Council meeting.

"When Fort Monmouth was Fort Monmouth, they had their own liquor licenses," Eatontown Councilman Dennis Connelly said. "We don’t have any liquor license for sale in the borough right now. Some recently have changed hands and many have gone to major companies."

Connelly asked Steadman if there was any discussions about creating new liquor licenses for the Fort Monmouth property, especially when FMERA is trying to create interest in the proposed commercial property.

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"It’s a question we’ve brought up and talked about since I’ve been here for three years and it’s not a subject anybody wants to grapple with publicly," Steadman said. "I suspect after this fall’s election, probably when people get back to more normal work schedules, there could be some future discussion."

Steadman said that as a private individual he thinks it would make sense to find a way to modify the liquor license regulations so more could be provided.

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He said the 50 acres on Route 35 in Eatontown, known as Parcel B, is "probably a perfect place" for a restaurant that would want a liquor licenses.

Eatontown Mayor Gerald Tarantolo said the issues was discussed "extensively" at the most recent Economic Development Committee meeting. 

Tarantolo said the borough is trying to set up a meeting with Mike Halfacre, the Director of the Division of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) to talk about the potential of adding more liquor licenses.

"It appears that Fort Monmouth going through redevelopment, liquor licenses, at least from the point of view of the economy and making it attractive to developers, is a real issue and we’re going to hopefully get him to look into the issue to see if some additional liquor licenses could be issued for the Fort Monmouth area," Tarantolo said.


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