Deadline gone, Fort Monmouth towns have more time to hand out liquor licenses

OCEANPORT - The three Fort Monmouth towns now have all the time they need to issue special liquor licenses after a new law removed the time constraint.

In 2018, the three fort towns — Eatont o wn, Oceanport and Tinton Falls — were given 12 special liquor licenses to distribute to developers to entice them to come to the former U.S. Army base, which closed in 2011 and has been going through redevelopment and a return to private ownership.

The towns had 36 months to distribute the licenses, after which they had up to two years to transfer the license, for a fee, to another host municipality to be used at the fort. The licenses could only be used at the fort and given to a developer that completed the mandatory conceptual review process for their project.

The licenses were awarded based on the acreage each fort town had. Eatontown got six, Oceanport four and Tinton Falls two. To date, just four have been used.

“The five-year deadline the towns had to issue the liquor licenses was too restrictive for Fort Monmouth," said Assemblywoman Victoria Lynn, R-Monmouth, who sponsored the bill to waive the deadline, which was signed into law by Gov. Phil Murphy last week.

"This gives investors and developers more time to realize the potential of the site, and the towns the chance to continue to attract projects that can boost the local economy,” Flynn said.

Eatontown Mayor Anthony Talerico Jr. said this was something they advocated for and they appreciate the efforts of the lawmakers stepping in to address their concern.

Eatontown has issued one license to the historic Suneagles Golf Course, designed by famed gold course architect A.W. Tillinghast in 1926. Last year, Martelli Development, which purchased the course, completed the renovation of the Tudor Revival-style clubhouse, which has a ballroom and a bar .

Oceanport Mayor Thomas Tvrdik said they have one left after they issued three licenses: one to the historic Allison Hall at the RiverWalk Center , to Park Loft , the restored Dance Hall which is now a wedding venue, and The Commissary at Baseline . The borough has one special license left.

Eatontown and Oceanport also have streaming giant Netflix set to move in and build its East Coast production hub on 300 acres in the center of the former fort.

Netflix at Fort Monmouth: Find out where the studios, helipad and hotels can go

Tinton Falls has not issued any licenses but nor does it have any bars or clubs on its former fort properties. Instead, it has attracted tech company CommVault, a private all-girls Catholic school called Trinity Hall, a Monmouth County Parks public pool and just had the groundbreaking for Monmouth Medical Center's Vogel Medical Campus, a cancer treatment and research center.

When Jersey Shore native Dan Radel is not reporting the news, you can find him in a college classroom where he is a history professor. Reach him @danielradelapp; 732-643-4072; dradel@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Deadline gone, Fort Monmouth towns have more time to hand out liquor licenses