Upper Township renews Willow Creek LLC liquor license despite neighborhood objections

The Upper Township Committee voted to renew the 2026–2027 alcohol beverage license for Willow Creek LLC (DBA Develin) after a public hearing in which multiple Strathmere residents urged the committee to restore a broader set of enforceable conditions tied to a 2021 planning-board approval.

Residents said the business’s outdoor sand-bar operations generate repeated noise, parking congestion and open-container incidents, and they submitted timestamped photos and a video alleging violations. "The burden belongs to the licensee," said a Strathmere resident who submitted photographs and recordings she said documented guards not posted and music audible inside homes. She told the committee a Google map measurement put the source of the music at roughly 314 feet from her house.

The applicant, who identified himself as Adam Otter, COO of Blue Dog Hospitality, told the committee the venue maintains standard operating procedures, daily decibel readings, valet and security and that management will comply with any conditions the committee adopts. "We will obviously abide by that," he said.

Residents asked the committee to reattach the planning-board conditions from Planning Board Resolution PB 06-2021 to the liquor license so the New Jersey Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) could assist enforcement. They cited earlier enforcement actions: a 2023 ABC suspension and several pending Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) notices tied to the beachfront bar and wastewater approvals. The municipal attorney confirmed that the 2021 planning-board approval and its conditions remain in force for site-plan matters, but explained limits and enforcement tradeoffs of placing zoning-related conditions on a liquor license.

After questions to the licensee about signage, guard training, cameras and logs, the committee deliberated. Several members said an increased New Jersey State Police presence this year and the township’s newer noise ordinance weighed in favor of renewing the license with last year’s conditions (chiefly, security personnel stationed at entrances during alcohol service). A motion to renew with the same 2025 conditions carried on a roll-call vote: Mr. Casaccio — Yes; Mr. Nappen — Abstain; Mr. Palumbo — Yes; Mayor Corson — Yes.

The committee’s vote kept the existing special condition requiring security at licensed entrances during alcohol service between Memorial Day and Labor Day but did not reattach the full set of planning-board conditions as license conditions. Committee members and counsel discussed that ABC guidance advises caution when tying zoning or site-plan conditions directly to liquor licenses, and that some enforcement tools remain available to the township through code enforcement and the planning board.

The committee’s action leaves open potential follow-up: license conditions can be revisited in future renewals, the planning-board site-plan conditions remain enforceable by the township, and residents were urged to continue using State Police and code-enforcement reporting channels to document violations. The committee also heard that DEP reviews and any planning-board amendments related to septic and tidelands permits could prompt further administrative or planning-board proceedings.