BY AMY Z. QUINN
Before you vote here in Harrison Township tomorrow and make your choice on the liquor question, know one thing: Your taxes are never, not ever, going to go down because someone can suddenly order a Martini in Richwood.
The only time a municipality sees any money from a liquor license is the first time it's sold. Future sales or transfers net only fees and require only a nodding approval from the township. So who profits? Nobody but the developers who buy the liquor licenses the first time around.
A direct-mail piece last week from Mayor Lou Manzo lobbying for liquor claimed licenses would be allowed only in the Richwood development zone. He's quoted as saying the township will use "crafted zoning," which sounds a lot like illegal "spot zoning," to keep liquor out of Mullica Hill's actual historic Main Street and only in the fake one they're creating in Richwood.
Ads urging a Yes vote claim that choosing booze will bring "nice" restaurants flocking to Mullica Hill.
Well, I've eaten many a "nice" meal at Blue Plate, the restaurant on North Main Street where Chef Jim Malaby has been working his ass off for the last few years. Likewise, there are nice dinners to be had at Toscana, down in the Mullica Hill Commons off Route 77.
Neither of those restaurants are in Richwood, so it would seem they're out of luck if they want to serve drinks. Except, as opponents of the ballot measure point out, the broad wording of the ballot question asks only if consumption licenses should be permitted "in this municipality."
So why do liquor advocates keep saying licenses would only be allowed in Richwood? Because they know that only "big-box" chain restaurants, the kind planned for the Richwood Town Center and available in every other town where "lifestyle centers" are sprouting, will be able to afford liquor licenses anyway. New licenses are sold at auction, to the highest bidder -- Washington Township recently put a consumption license up for bid starting at $595,000 -- making it unlikely a mom-and-pop place like Blue Plate could ever compete with the P.F. Changs and Outback Steakhouses of the world.
Before you start thinking about how much your taxes will go down if Harrison sells liquor licenses at $600,000 a pop, consider how many more police officers it's going to take to patrol that new town center, how many more ambulances we'll need in town to adequately service the thousands of new residents (many of them elderly) all the new development will bring.
Also, the current mayor's promises don't control how many liquor licenses Harrison will ultimately have. They're available based on population (1 for every 3,000), meaning every development approved anywhere in town -- not just the 6,000 new residents slated for the Richwood -- could lead to another license. Although, being able to buy booze right here in town will certainly be more convenient for the Rowan students who'd live in the dorm complex the university plans for Richwood. So there's that.
Nobody's saying that being able to order a drink with your meal is going to turn the town into a dump. But it's clear, this measure will only benefit those trying to turn Harrison Township into another Marlton.
None for me, thanks.
