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Highlands council approves liquor-license transfer with site-plan condition after parking concerns
Summary
The Borough of Highlands approved a place-to-place transfer of liquor license 1317-33-008-006 but attached a condition requiring the applicants to obtain site-plan approval addressing traffic and parking, or otherwise resolve those concerns in a substantially similar manner, after public testimony urged delay until the land-use hearing.
The Borough of Highlands Mayor and Council voted June 17 to approve a place-to-place transfer of liquor license 1317-33-008-006, conditioning the approval on the applicants’ submission of a site plan that addresses traffic and parking concerns or an alternative solution “in a substantially similar manner.”
At a public hearing, the council’s presiding officer explained that the transfer under review concerns only the liquor license — moving the license from one building to a second building on the same property — and is separate from the land-use board’s authority over zoning and parking. “This is a place to place transfer of a liquor license,” the presiding officer said in explaining the jurisdictional split.
Several residents urged the council to delay action until the land-use board resolves a related site-plan application scheduled for a special hearing on June 25. Richard Jones, a Highlands resident, said waiting would allow parking and traffic issues to be settled first. “Wouldn’t it make sense to resolve the parking and traffic issues before deciding about this?” Jones asked during the public portion.
A public commenter and other speakers warned that approving the transfer without conditions could make any later mitigation more difficult. One participant said approving the transfer with no stipulations would be “a one-time thing” and could foreclose later remedies.
The borough attorney/staff read the condition that the council set: the applicants must submit a site-plan application addressing traffic and parking, and must obtain site-plan approval or otherwise address the traffic and parking concerns in a substantially similar manner. The attorney clarified the council could not condition approval on the land-use board’s vote but could require a substantially similar outcome through other means.
After discussion, the council closed the public hearing and approved the transfer with the stated condition. The resolution authorizing the transfer (R26-148) was offered, seconded and recorded as approved.
The decision requires the applicants to return with either an approved site plan or demonstrably equivalent measures addressing circulation and parking before the transfer is considered fully satisfied; the council’s action does not substitute for any land-use-board determinations that may follow.
