2 Retail Liquor Licenses To Be Sold In Moorestown

MOORESTOWN, NJ — Two new plenary liquor licenses will soon be available in Moorestown, and they will each be available for a minimum bid of $1 million.

Moorestown Council approved a non-consent agenda resolution at its meeting Monday night to authorize the issuance of two new plenary retail liquor licenses within the township.

The township will put out a Request for Proposal (RFP), with bids due by 10 a.m. on July 26, according to the resolution. At that time, bids will be opened and announced by township officials at town hall. The RFP will be finalized by June 24.

The township previously decided it would use the “historical method” to determine which applicants will receive the licenses. This method gives the town greater control over whom it awards the licenses to. Read more here: Microbreweries Get Final Approval To Come To Moorestown

Township Manager Tom Merchel had asked them to decide between this and the "traditional method," in which the highest bidder gets the job. Read more here: Breweries May Be Coming To Moorestown; Liquor Licenses To Be Sold

In addition to providing proof they are permitted to hold a license to sell alcohol, a proposal and a completed application to the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC), applicants will be required to provide:

• a $200 fee to be paid to ABC;
• a license fee of $2,500 to be paid to Moorestown; and
• a good faith deposit check or wire transfer equal to 25 percent of the proposed purchase amount to be paid to the township.

Those who are awarded the licenses will deliver any additional requested information to the township and the police department, and unsuccessful applicants will be refunded the money that was paid up front.

If no new licenses are issued within six months, Moorestown Council will need to approve another resolution to award the licenses.

After years of not permitting the recreational sale of alcohol in the township, Moorestown voters approved the sale of liquor licenses in certain areas by referendum in 2011. Read more here: 'Yes' Wins: Moorestown Liquor Referendum Passes

After a judge ruled during a subsequent court case that the township couldn’t limit the use of those licenses to the mall, the township passed legislation to permit the wider sale of alcohol in the township, but still reserved to certain appropriate areas. Read more here: Retail Liquor Licenses Get Final Approval In Moorestown

Any liquor store built in Moorestown would have to be 200 feet from a home or a school, and they are explicitly banned from being built on Main Street and Lenola Road. Read more here: Liquor Stores, Microbreweries Under Discussion For Moorestown