City Council unanimously approved a resolution opposing new restrictions on breweries, joining a number of other municipalities around the state.
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The resolution (AR-165-22), adopted at the Aug. 8 regular meeting, “strongly opposes” special conditions on limited brewery licenses and requests they be removed immediately. It also urges the governor and Legislature to work with breweries to develop “smart and fair law revisions and regulations” that will guide regulators on how to oversee the state’s craft beer industry.
“These new conditions will force local, homegrown small businesses like Rahway’s Wet Ticket Brewing to rethink business models and closely consider which events they should participate in or host, which will reduce their profits and their opportunities to engage in their communities,” according to the resolution. Wet Ticket, opened downtown on Main Street in late 2016, has been hosting a free summer concert series in its beer garden, among other events throughout the year.
The New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (NJABC) issued new special conditions on each limited brewery license in the state beginning July 1, limiting craft breweries on annual events:
- 52 private parties (average 1 per week)
- 25 on-site activities open to the general public (~2 per month)
- 12 off-premises events (1 per month)
Special license conditions also restrict the types of television programming in tasting rooms, types of live or recorded music they can play or host, food options they can make available. They ban the sale of coffee and prohibit the sale of soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages not made on site.
Legislators have introduced bills, including S-3038. that would “ease restrictions and provide more clarity on the to state regulators,” State Sen. Vin Gopal (D-Monmouth) wrote in this recent column. The limited brewery license, created in 2012, is a hybrid that provides both manufacturing and retail privileges.
“While some of those conditions imposed by the NJABC merely reflect the statute authorizing such licenses, many of the special conditions go far beyond the legislative intent in creating such limited brewery licenses,” according to the resolution. “Such restrictions serve no legitimate governmental interest but rather appear solely intended to hurt a growing industry in our state and the local economies that benefit such craft breweries.”
The 141 craft breweries in New Jersey contributed almost $2 billion to the state’s economy, according to the National Brewers Association, creating more than 11, 000 jobs at an annual income of more than $55,000 per employee.
A similar measure was passed this month by the governing body in Hackensack (per NorthJersey.com), which is home to several breweries. The Brewers Guild of New Jersey estimates dozens of similar resolutions have been adopted by local governing bodies in recent weeks, including New Providence, Westfield, Hillsborough, Long Valley, and Phillipsburg — all home to local breweries — as well as Hunterdon and Warren counties.
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