News
Judge Rules With RB Council On Revocation Of Liquor License
By John Burton
RED BANK - The Borough Council has the right to revoke the license of a west side neighborhood liquor store that has been cited for numerous violations of liquor laws, Administrative Law Judge Joseph F. Martone ruled recently.
Martone ruled in favor of the council concerning the fate of Best Liquors, 75 Leighton Avenue, 1,300 square foot retail-liquor store that is located in a residential neighborhood.
In his decision, Martone reaffirmed the borough council's decision to not renew, and revoke the plenary retail distribution license that allows the store to sell alcohol.
For two meetings in 2007, facing six charges, the liquor storeowner, Pankaj "Sunny" Sharma, and his attorney, appeared before Mayor Pasquale Menna and the five of the six council members (one member recused himself), in what was a sort of quasi-trial with the storeowner as defendant and Borough Attorney Thomas Hall functioning as prosecutor.
Sharma faced charges involving the sale of alcohol to minors, including selling to 15-, 16-, and 19-year old customers, occurring in 2006; selling cigarettes that did not bear the state revenue stamp, indicating the required state tax wasn't paid; and an administrative violation involving not having an employee finger-printed and registered with borough police.
In June 2007, the council voted unanimously to revoke the store's license. And while some neighbors supported the decision, Sharma and his attorney appealed to the state's Office of Administrative Law.
Samuel "Skip" Reale Jr., a Willingboro lawyer representing Sharma and Best Liquors of Red Bank, Inc., argued on technical grounds and tried to raise questions concerning the local police investigation.
Reale had initially said the mayor and borough council was not the proper forum for the initial liquor-license hearing because council members and the former mayor had said at public meetings they would like to see the license revoked and retired, given the concerns of area residents.
Neighbors complained that the store had become a hangout for some, with people there at all hours, drinking and urinating in public, being loud and boisterous, along with allowing underage patrons to buy alcohol.
In response to the outcry, police stepped up surveillance of the site, giving borough officials grounds to pull the license.
Sharma, a Middletown resident, has operated the store since 2003, and in the past blamed some of the accusations on a former employee.
He has since said he has changed the way the store is operated, working more hours and insisting on identification from all customers Residents had also complained about having liquor stores in their neighborhood. (There are two within a short walk of each other on the street.) Neighbors said the store has been there for a number of generations, maybe as long as 90 years. But in the past, some said, the location served as a sort of grocery/convenience store, selling some staples along with alcohol, but has since become more a liquor store, with some candy, soda and snacks, along with an automated teller machine (ATM).
Martone upheld five of the six charges, dismissing the cigarette-tax offense, even though, Sharma had pleaded guilty to that charge.
On the other hand, Martone supported the five other charges, including the four underage sales. According to the judge, "the presumptive penalty for the appellant-licensee's conduct, for a fourth violation, is revocation of the license," and affirmed the council's decision to not renew the 2007-08 and the 2008-09 license for the location."
This week Hall said, "I fully accept the findings of the decision."
Now the decision moves to the director of the Division of Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC), in Trenton, who is responsible for the final decision in this matter. The director has 45 days to render a decision.
The store is still open for business but attempts to contact Sharma this week were unsuccessful.
