This bill aims to facilitate the transfer and sale of inactive plenary retail consumption liquor licenses to qualifying smart growth municipalities in New Jersey. It recognizes the challenges faced by these municipalities, which often have a lack of available licenses due to existing restrictions that limit the issuance of new licenses based on population. The bill allows for the purchase of inactive licenses by corporations or entities intending to operate restaurants or bars in these smart growth areas, provided that the licenses are subsequently transferred to establishments within real estate development projects. The bill also mandates that the Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) must approve the transfer of licenses based on the municipality's inability to meet demand due to statutory limitations.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions for the financial aspects of the license transfer, requiring purchasers to pay a fee to the sending municipality, which is distributed among the sending municipality, the director, and existing license holders in the qualifying municipality. It also repeals certain sections of previous legislation that allowed for special permits for alcoholic beverage service in smart growth projects, ensuring that licenses are managed under the same regulations as other plenary retail consumption licenses. The bill further clarifies that licenses can only be transferred within the same real estate development project and prohibits the issuance of special concessionaire permits for locations eligible under this act.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 33:1-24.3