WEST ORANGE, NJ — The West Orange Township Council voted against moving forward with an ordinance to extend alcohol consumption hours on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at its Feb. 18 meeting. With a vote of 2-3, the members of the council decided not to add the ordinance to the March 3 meeting agenda. Council President Michelle Casalino, Councilwoman Cindy Matute-Brown and Councilman Jerry Guarino voted against introducing the ordinance, which would have allowed businesses that serve alcohol to stay open for one hour longer, until 3 a.m.
Assistant Township Attorney Kenneth Kayser said at the meeting that the West Orange Police Department was prepared for the change, but Casalino was hesitant to move forward because not many other Essex County towns have a similar ordinance.
“I think there’s a couple of towns in the areas that have 3 a.m.,” Kayser said. “Newark is one, but I don’t remember if there’s another one in Essex County. Hudson County has some towns; Hoboken has 3 a.m.”
Councilman Joe Krakoviak pointed out that business owners in town have been asking the council to move forward with the ordinance for a long time, and said there would be advantages to passing it.
“There aren’t a whole lot of towns around us that have the extra hour from 2 to 3 a.m.,” he said at the meeting. “It would give the owners of our establishments a competitive advantage, because they would be open an hour later.”
The council members who voted against moving the ordinance forward expressed concerns about increased traffic and decreased safety at the late hour. Krakoviak also refuted those points.
“From a safety viewpoint, I don’t think you’ll see much difference between a 2 a.m. closing and a 3 a.m.,” he said. “I think the fact that there are some municipalities that have had this on the books for some time suggests that it doesn’t become an increased safety risk, because otherwise they would get rid of the 3 a.m. hours. Also, with this competitive advantage, the management of these establishments have very strong incentive to continue safe operations in order to maintain their advantage.”
Krakoviak pointed out that if the new hours do present an increased safety risk, the council could vote to change them back.
“I don’t see the benefit,” Matute-Brown said at the meeting, saying that the “risks outweigh the benefits of a business selling a few more drinks for one more hour.”
Casalino said her concern is people going to West Orange from towns that have shorter hours.
“My concern is young kids coming from other bars into our town late at night and driving,” she said. “I know everyone says they Uber, but they all don’t, so that’s where my struggle is. If the majority of the towns were going to 3 a.m., it would be consistent.”
Guarino agreed.
“I look at it as a quality-of-life issue,” he said at the meeting. “If they’re close to intoxication, they’re coming into West Orange and they’re putting our residents at risk. I’m a total proponent of our local businesses, but it doesn’t sit right with me. People are going to come into West Orange and have an hour more of drinking and it doesn’t do any good.”
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