Liquor-license law needs reform, developers say
JULY 31, 2014 LAST UPDATED: THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2014, 1:21 AM
BY LINDA MOSS
STAFF WRITER
THE RECORD
* Real estate developer in North Jersey says make laws fair
NEW BRUNSWICK — Calling current liquor laws outdated and inequitable, members of the commercial real estate industry are working to reform the process in a way that won’t penalize business owners who already have a license, which in some cases can cost millions of dollars.
“The license holders are the beneficiaries of the monopoly,” George Jacobs, a principal of Clifton-based Jacobs Enterprises Inc., told an audience of about 100 real estate officials Wednesday. “We’re trying figure out compensation schemes where these guys will not be hurt, but economic development can be stimulated.”
Jacobs was part of a panel that the New Jersey chapter of NAIOP, a commercial real estate trade group, held at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University in New Brunswick.
Jacobs, who presented a 30-page report on restaurant-consumption liquor licenses in New Jersey in 2011 at the meeting, outlined what the industry is doing to bring change to liquor-license laws. He also explained why the status quo poses challenges to developers, supermarkets and restaurateurs.
“The law breeds corruption, inefficiency, delay and costs,” he said.
– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/business/liquor-licensing-faulted-1.1060238#sthash.F4GF958H.dpuf
