ABC Strikes Down Restrictions on Music, Patio Dining at Green Knoll Grill

BRIDGEWATER, NJ - The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control has handed down a decision to void a number of the restrictions put by Bridgewater Township on the Green Knoll Grill’s liquor license, including one regarding how long outdoor music can be played.

The decision was handed down at the end of August, and strikes down a number of special conditions imposed by Bridgewater Township on the 2023-2024 liquor license for the restaurant.

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“It was a big win for not just me, but for the community, the Bridgewater residents who love music,” said Green Knoll Grill owner Lisa Balducci. “I am a staple in the community, and I wanted to be treated like everyone else.”

Following the decision, the township said it will continue to monitor businesses in town.

“We will continue to monitor all high-volume businesses in our town, including, but not limited to, Green Knoll Grill for compliance with local ordinances and license conditions, and to protect the quality of life for residents in their immediate vicinity,” deputy township administrator Wells Winegar said in a statement.

According to the ABC’s decision, in June 2023, the township passed a resolution with 15 special conditions on the restaurant’s liquor license.

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One of them stated that all outdoor music must end by 9 p.m. on Thursdays and Fridays, and 9:30 p.m. on Saturdays, despite the fact that the town’s noise ordinance requires music to stop by 10 p.m. All other restaurants in the area are bound by the noise ordinance’s restrictions, which was noted in the judge’s decision to amend that condition.

“Some of the conditions do not have any direct relation to the liquor license and have had a negative impact on the current successful operation of Green Knoll where local competitors do not have the same conditions attached to their licenses,” Judge Gauri Shirali Shah said in the decision.

In the final decision, that condition was modified to allow the restaurant to keep music going until 10 p.m., like other restaurants in the area.

Balducci said she was the only business in Bridgewater that had that noise restriction. She said she has a noise meter and she constantly measures to make sure she is within the ordinance requirements.

“I measure everything, and I’m on top of it to make sure I’m well within guidelines,” she said. “I wasn’t looking for special treatment, I wanted to be treated like everyone else in town.”

Balducci noted that her restaurant is on a busy road, Route 202/206, backing up to Route 287, and the noise from the cars is greater than her music.

“You’re on a busy traveled road,” she said. “I had a noise study done, and the noise behind us on 287 was much greater than our music. Route 206 was much louder because it is heavily traveled.”

Another condition on the license required the restaurant to have an employee at any exit to direct customers to dispose of bottles and cans before exiting the premises, and another said bottles and cans could not be transferred to outside recycling containers or dumpsters between 10 p.m. and 10 a.m.

The restaurant, the order said, follows ABC rules of not allowing drinking in the parking lot, and they have not received any citations in the past.

The restaurant has a dumpster in the back of the building in a wooden enclosure, and throws trash out in the evening, especially because the kitchen is open until midnight in the summer. Other restaurants in the area are not required to comply with these restrictions.

“I was told I had to store garbage in the kitchen, but what if the board of health came by in the morning, and I had bags of garbage inside?” Balducci said.

Another condition that was made void stated that the patio must be closed after 6 p.m. between Oct. 30 and March 31. Balducci had questioned why, on a warm day in November, she could not allow people on the patio.

“I wanted to be able, if after October we have a couple beautiful days, to be able to seat people outside on the patio,” she said.

Another condition that was struck down stated that Bridgewater, at its discretion, could modify the conditions of the resolution, and the restaurant’s license, if it received any noise complaints from neighbors. At this time, the order said, Green Knoll has not received any complaints.

In 2023, when the license was renewed, a number of residents from the Crossroads community, across Route 202/206, spoke before the Bridgewater Township Council with concerns about the Green Knoll license renewal because of music emanating from the restaurant. Residents from the same community had brought a petition in 2022 to the council, and complaints in previous years came from the same community.

But, the decision notes, the restaurant was never officially cited by the township with any noise ordinance violations, and the township has never conducted a noise study of its own.

Bridgewater police documented, in 2021, a response to 21 service calls, but no information was presented about any calls after June 2022, or any verified noise complaints or violations.

Balducci noted, though, that the nature of the business has changed since the COVID pandemic, after 2022, with clientele being older and wanting more live music. In addition, she said, the restaurant did not receive any citations or violate any township codes in the last two years, and the police have not been called.

She said restaurants, including hers, have changed since the pandemic, and she is finding that the younger kids are not coming out as much, with most of her clientele in the age range of 35 and older.

“I changed along with COVID, and I started bringing in more bands to enjoy while having dinner,” she said. “We had to change along with it, and the one thing I wanted was to be able to have music up to whenever the township ordinance allows.”

In his conclusion, Shah noted that the township did not provide any testimony or documentary evidence to support that there were continued complaints about noise or any other ABC violations, and it was suggested by the township that that was because of the special conditions.

“This argument is speculative at best, and not supported by the fact that there were complaints in 2013 and 2015 when these very special conditions already existed,” Shah said.

For that reason, Shah concluded that the special conditions imposed were not connected to the current operations, and there was no basis for limiting the music since the town noise ordinance allows for a longer period of time and there have been no violations.

In addition, Shah said, because many restaurants have been providing outdoor seating to patrons for health reasons since the pandemic, there was no reason for the patio to be closed at 6 p.m. at certain times of the year, precluding needs for weather and other necessary conditions.

Balducci said she is grateful for the court decision to eliminate some of these restrictions, but noted that the decision came at the end of August, the end of her season.

“So many people were so happy by the decision, so excited,” she said. “But by the time the decision came out, I had missed my season.”

“I had to stop music at 9 p.m., and that one hour made a difference,” she added. “It’s unfortunate I didn’t have that for the beginning of the season.”

Balducci thanked her lawyer, David Cassidy, Esq., of Vlasac & Shmaruk, for taking her case.

“He’s been my friend, and the one and only attorney that has ever had our back and believed in us,” she said. “I did nothing wrong, and the truth prevailed. I run a very good business, and I am hopeful that the town will leave us alone and work with us, instead of against us.”

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