BRICK – The governing body has proposed an ordinance that would open up more areas of town to allow breweries and wine tasting rooms to operate.
The recommendation for this ordinance came from the Township’s Land Use Committee, said Councilman Art Halloran during the June 14 Council meeting.
“The ordinance was in place to allow breweries, and is now being expanded to permit craft distilleries, winery tasting rooms and instructional wine making as permitted uses in the Village Zone (Drum Point Road, Mantoloking Road and Herbertsville Road), the B-2 General Business Zone, the B-3 Highway Development Zone, and the M-1 Light Industrial Zone,” said Halloran at its introduction.
The ordinance goes into greater detail and says that the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) in New Jersey is permitted to issue a craft distillery license which permits craft distilleries to distill up to 20,000 gallons of distilled alcoholic beverages for sale and distribution.
Holders of a Plenary Winery License, a Farm Winery License and an Out-of-State Winery License may operate a winery salesroom apart from the winery premises for retail sale of wine for consumption off the premises and for sampling on the premises, the proposed ordinance reads.
The ordinance applies to holders of an Instructional Winemaking Facility who teach winemaking and permits the consumption of wine on or off premises.
Adoption of this ordinance would allow business owners to open one of these businesses without having to appear before the township’s Board of Adjustment. Public comment and its adoption will take place during the next council meeting.
In other news, an ordinance that grants an easement to the Board of Education for additional parking and access to Midstreams Elementary School was adopted on its final reading.
Council President Vincent Minichino said the ordinance facilitates the Board of Education’s request to make improvements to the Midstream School’s parking lot, which encroaches onto township property on the north side. The Board of Education plans to resurface and improve the lot while reducing the depth of encroachment, he explained.
And finally, the governing body authorized the receipt of bids for road improvements to Riviera Beach phase III.
Mayor John G. Ducey said the residents there “have been talking about these roads for some time,” and they include Jefferson Court, Lincoln Court, Madison Court, 20th Avenue, 21st Avenue, 23rd Avenue, Walnut Drive and 22nd Avenue.
He explained that every February the township engineer, Elissa Commins, investigates complaints made about any township roads.
“Emails, calls, Facebook live – and she checks with the (Department of Public Works), the police…and the post office since they drive our roads, and she compiles a list of the roads she needs to go look at,” Mayor Ducey said.
In other road improvement news, the council passed a resolution that authorizes the submission of a grant application to the NJ Department of Transportation 2023 Municipal Aid Program.
The township is requesting a grant to pay for the elevation of portions of Bayview Drive from Drum Point Road to Vanard Drive, which is one of the waterfront areas that is plagued by “sunny day flooding” when water floods the road during high tide, the mayor said.
The next council meeting will be on Tuesday, June 28 at 7 p.m.
