By DONALD WITTKOWSKI
Plans for reopening the former LaCosta Lounge as a rebranded bar just in time for Memorial Day weekend were thrown into confusion Friday when City Council denied the transfer of the liquor license.
Voting 3-1, the governing body concluded that the so-called “pocket” liquor license did not meet the requirements of Sea Isle City’s licensing regulations to be grandfathered in at the new bar.
During a Council hearing that stretched on for more than two hours, attorneys argued a series of legal points over whether the liquor license should be “placed” at the bar’s location at 4000 Landis Avenue under new ownership.
Ultimately, it was decided that the grandfather clause did not apply in this case, leading to Council’s vote to deny the liquor license’s “place-to-place” transfer. Councilman Frank Edwardi cast the dissenting vote.
“It needs to go back there. It’s been there for 80 years,” Edwardi said of the liquor license’s long history at the former LaCosta Lounge location.
Council members Mary Tighe, Jack Gibson and J.B. Feeley made similar comments about their desire to see the liquor license remain at the former LaCosta site. However, they noted that they could not ignore the requirements of Sea Isle’s ordinance regulating the transfer of liquor licenses.
“I’m trying to do what is best for the town as a whole,” Tighe said.
Council President William Kehner abstained from voting to avoid any potential conflicts of interest. Kehner once worked as the manager of the LaCosta Lounge’s liquor store when the bar was under different ownership.
Tighe noted that the liquor license dilemma left Council “between a rock and a hard place.”
“We certainly don’t want to see a business sitting empty on Memorial Day weekend,” she said in an interview after the hearing.
Developers Christopher Glancey and Bob Morris, who bought the landmark LaCosta Lounge in 2018 for $7.3 million, have rebranded it as the Beach Bar at the Ludlam. They once planned on calling it the LaCosta Beach Bar, but changed the name again.
For the time being, no liquor can be sold at the Beach Bar at the Ludlam. However, the bar’s restaurant opened on Friday evening with BYOB service.
“As we reopen this evening it is with a heavy heart to announce that this morning the city voted against allowing our property to have our liquor license placed on the property where it has lived for over 80 years. We are extremely disappointed but will not give up on our vision of continuing to host generations of party-goers and vacationers in the heart of Sea Isle City,” the Beach Bar at the Ludlam said in a Facebook posting.
Glancey declined comment after the Council hearing, referring questions to his attorney, Michael Malinsky.
Strongly disagreeing with Council’s decision, Malinsky asserted that the requirements for the liquor license transfer were met.
“We are currently looking at our appeals options,” Malinsky said, indicating that Council’s vote likely will be challenged.
City Solicitor Paul Baldini said if an appeal is filed, it will be heard by the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.
Malinsky said there were other Sea Isle bars in the past that faced similar circumstances and they were granted grandfather status for a liquor license transfer.
“All we want to do is place a license back at a place that has been there for more than 80 years,” Malinsky said in comments during the hearing.
Colin Bell, an attorney representing local “objectors” who opposed the transfer of the liquor license, argued that the grandfather clause did not apply in this case.
Samuel Reale, an attorney representing City Council in the liquor license dispute, told the governing body it was his opinion that the transfer should not be approved because the applicant did not meet the standards for the grandfather clause.
Reale said the “only way” the transfer could be approved is if there was no other location in Sea Isle where the liquor license could legally be placed other than the former LaCosta property.
Under Sea Isle’s licensing ordinance, bars aren’t allowed within 1,000 feet of a church or other religious institutions. A survey conducted by the city’s engineer, Andrew Previti, found that there were 13 other potential sites, including restaurants in town, that could serve as a suitable location for the LaCosta’s former liquor license.
LaCosta Lounge shut down last September when the lease expired for the bar’s former owner, local businessman James Bennett. After a court battle Glancey and Morris bought the liquor license from Bennett for $825,000.
In the meantime, Glancey and Morris continue to own the liquor license, although they can’t use it as intended at this point.
Glancey and Morris were originally looking to redevelop the LaCosta site for a hotel, restaurant, outdoor bar and banquet complex called The Ludlam. A lawsuit filed by an opponent of the project brought the redevelopment plan to a halt. So instead, Glancey and Morris decided to reopen the LaCosta under a new brand. But they needed approval to have the liquor license transferred to their new bar.
The LaCosta Lounge’s former liquor license became a “pocket” license after Bennett’s lease for the bar expired last September, Baldini explained. That meant it was no longer affiliated with any specific bar and could be transferred to another place with Council’s approval if it met the city’s licensing requirements.
