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 lack sufficient licenses to support proposed real estate development projects, particularly those involving restaurants and bars. The bill allows for the purchase of inactive licenses from municipalities that have a surplus, enabling them to be utilized in areas where demand exists. The Director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) is tasked with determining whether a transfer is appropriate based on the municipality's ability to issue new licenses, and the process requires resolutions from both the sending and receiving municipalities.

Additionally, the bill includes provisions for the financial aspects of the transfer, mandating that the purchaser pay a fee to the sending municipality, which is distributed among various parties, including the director and existing license holders in the receiving municipality. It also stipulates that transferred licenses can only be used within the same real estate development project and prohibits the issuance of special concessionaire permits for locations eligible for licenses under this act. The bill repeals certain previous provisions that allowed for special permits in smart growth projects, thereby streamlining the licensing process in line with the new regulations.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: 33:1-24.3