By ROBERT LINNEHAN
Despite a lawsuit hanging over the proceedings, the Moorestown Council announced last week that five deposits have been made in “good faith” from two organizations to purchase five of six available liquor licenses in the township.
Township manager Scott Carew reported that Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust has made four deposits for four liquor licenses that will be used for potential restaurants and business in the Moorestown Mall. PREIT has pledged to purchase all four at a price of $1 million each, Carew said.
East Gate has also made a “good faith” deposit to purchase a liquor license that will be used at the East Gate Shopping Center — located across the street from the mall — for a price of $1,030,000, Carew said.
Township Solicitor Thomas Coleman III said he and the township clerk are in the process of reviewing the applications for the liquor licenses and will most likely have a resolution for the Monday, July 23 meeting at 7:30 p.m. in the Moorestown High School IT Room.
Originally, the township residents voted in favor of a referendum to allow for liquor license to only be sold within the confines of the Moorestown Mall. In the spring, representatives from East Gate sued the township for the right to purchase one of the liquor licenses.
The lawsuit is ongoing, Coleman said, and East Gate’s liquor license application will be dependent on the outcome of the suit.
Councilmember Chris Chiacchio jokingly asked if the lawsuit doesn’t go in favor of East Gate, will the township have to give the money back from the deposit?
Coleman informed him that unfortunately the township would have to refund the deposit.
The township is allowed to sell six liquor licenses.
In other township news:
Carew informed the township that the sports leagues are close to finalizing a “menu” of sponsorship opportunities that will be available at the various parks and sports facilities throughout the township.
The sponsorship opportunities will vary from signs on an outfield fence, Carew said, to having the name of a company or business on the facility’s scoreboard.
However, to make the program more successful, Carew said the township council should seriously consider amending the zoning board’s sign size resolution to allow for larger signs at the fields.
The resolution is extremely strict about the size of the signs, Carew said, and to allow for more revenue through the sponsorship they should be bigger.
The sponsorship program will likely not be ready for the fall sport season, he said, but should be able to be instituted by the spring.
