BYOB Opponents: Don't Mess With Success

About 150 people gathered Thursday night at the  for an information session about the "Bring Your Own Bottle" (BYOB) initiative in Ocean City.

The event was sponsored by the Committee to Preserve Ocean City, the political committee opposing the idea of bringing BYOB to Ocean City.

Event organizers suggested it would be foolhardy to jeopardize the success of Ocean City as a community and a resort on a longshot bid to improve parts of Ocean City's restaurant and retail economy.

Applause interrupted the presentation at various points as speakers talked about a proposed BYOB ordinance that former Councilman John Flood described as "a convoluted mess."

The presentation was made a little more than three weeks from the May 8 election that includes a binding public question on allowing "Bring Your Own Bottle" (BYOB) restaurants in the dry town of Ocean City.

Committee to Preserve Ocean City Chairman Drew Fasy opened the public forum with a description of Ocean City's success.

Ocean City is "not likely to attract Snooki, the Situation and their pals," CNNMoney.com said in a collection of major media quotes presented by Fasy in a slideshow. The quotes spoke to Ocean City's national reputation as a family resort.

Fasy noted that the total value of Ocean City's real estate makes it the third most valuable municipality in New Jersey — despite the fact that the island's seven square miles and year-round population of 11,701 make it one of the smallest.

He suggested various visitor surveys indicate that Ocean City's ban on the public consumption of alcohol is its greatest attraction.

Flood followed Fasy with a description of an ordinance that he believes is much more vague as a product of a public initiative than something that would have been drafted by the city and gone through the traditional public review process.

The proposed ordinance (see attached PDF for the full text) does not permit Boardwalk restaurants to allow BYOB. But Flood said the ordinance doesn't clearly define what is a restaurant "on the Boardwalk." Would the  be permitted to allow BYOB, for instance, because its restaurant is set back by a short distance from the Boardwalk. It's not clear, Flood said.

The ordinance limits BYOB to establishments with "table coverings." Would paper place-mats qualify as "table coverings"? It's not clear, Flood said.

"We believe there are enough inconsistencies that it will lead to legal challenges," Flood said.

With a legal challenge would come legal expenses for the city, he said.

Committee to Preserve Ocean City Treasurer Ken Cooper addressed the BYOB petitioners' suggestion that BYOB restaurants can reverse a decline in retail business caused by the growth of box stores and Internet sales and the loss of year-round population.

Unlike other towns that have recently implemented BYOB, Ocean City has only a small population within a five-mile radius, Cooper said. Collingswood has more than 350,000 people within five miles, while Ocean City has fewer than 50,000, according to statistics cited by the committee.

Cooper also suggested that allowing BYOB could be a "gateway" to permitting full liquor licenses. He said he didn't want to use a scare tactic, but it has happened — he said Rutherford, NJ, permitted BYOB restaurants in 1986 and then issued full liquor licenses just three years later.

Dave Cates, owner of restaurant, delivered perhaps the evening's most compelling presentation when he asked what BYOB would do for him "aside from making my life a living nightmare."

Cates said his restaurant is busy year-round and has remained vibrant through the recession.

"Ocean City is a very unique place to live, a very unique resort," he said. "It's the reason I am so busy."

If BYOB were to pass, Cates asked how he would explain to persistent customers why his restaurant chooses not to allow it. If he were to allow BYOB, he asked how he's supposed to monitor consumption without any specific guidelines in the proposed ordinance.

"Am I supposed to decide when they've had too much?" Cates asked.

He also asked how long customers might wait outside to come into his 50-seat restaurant on a cold winter night — if diners were lingering over a bottle of wine inside.

In a question-and-answer session that followed the presentation, Flood answered a question about Ocean City's restaurants before the 1984 ordinance that prohibited BYOB. Flood said he has lived in Ocean City all his life and can't remember people ever bringing beer or wine to a restaurant. He said he believed it was an unspoken law not to allow it. The 1984 ordinance, he said, appeared to be a response to complaints about a few restaurants that were breaking the gentlemen's agreement, according to his research.

Answering a question about restaurants with back doors off the Boardwalk, Flood said that had been permitted in the first draft of the BYOB ordinance last summer, but that the description of what's allowed remains unclear. He said a city ordinance would typically refer to one of Ocean City's mapped usage zones — the "Boardwalk Zone," for instance, would extend 200 feet back from the Boardwalk between Fifth and 14th streets.

The meeting concluded with a call to action: to vote, to donate, to volunteer and to spread the word.

Fasy said will accept "No BYOB" lawn signs for recycling starting the day after the election (May 9). He said Pelican Pete's will provide a $1 discount to everybody who turns in a sign.

For more information, visit NoBYOB.com.