Council argued the merits of the new ordinance. There are currently nine Camden County liquor licenses in use.
Township council has unanimously approved on first reading an ordinance that amends its regulation on alcohol licenses for businesses that sell liquor along with other goods.
Under the current measure, if alcohol is sold in a supermarket or a non-liquor store, it has to be relegated to a separate area with a separate cash register and can’t be advertised in other parts of the store. The ordinance would allow liquor to be sold anywhere else in the store, but keeps the register rule. The store’s alcohol products would be off limits for handling by under-age employees and prohibited at a self-checkout.
The only Cherry Hill store that has a separate area for alcohol sales is the ShopRite along Route 70. There are currently nine county liquor licenses in use.
Changes in the ordinance are expected to promote economic vitality while acknowledging that previous measures weren’t consistent with “retail practices or consumer expectations.”
Brian Bauerle, the township’s chief of staff, explained in an email that the ordinance would affect a liquor license now out to bid and would not endanger public safety.
“It could potentially support greater flexibility for a new distribution license that is currently out for bid,” he explained. “Importantly, other local regulations that promote public safety remain unchanged and continue to be more stringent than those in similarly sized municipalities in the region.
“This added flexibility is consistent with what is being permitted in other towns across the state.”
Councilwoman Jennifer Apell expressed concern about alcohol taking up more space at a grocery store.
“The whole point of the limiting on the first time we voted on this was so … limiting … (didn’t mean) you can put liquor wherever you wanted as long as you’re agreeing with state law,” she noted. “You can stick liquor wherever you want to sell it anywhere. And now we’re creeping up a little bit more and a little bit more.
“So they could put liquor on the end cap of a cereal aisle or on a candy aisle.”
Board Solicitor Cosmas Diamantis clarified the proposed ordinance’s restrictions on alcohol product placement.
“They can’t locate and sell the liquor in an area where it is also marketed for children,” he said.
Apell countered that even a separate area for alcohol in a store could still be seen by kids.
“So they put it in the pasta aisle,” she pointed out. “Children are still going to see, and I’m not talking 17 or high school. But the problem is the liquor now; it’s basically like candy. It’s almost like marijuana gummies, CBD gummies.
“I’m just trying to wrap my head around it, but I’m having difficulty.”
Diamantis emphasized that Pennsylvania, among other states, has alcohol purchases in more stores than New Jersey, something Apell doesn’t want to see happen in Cherry Hill.
“There’s like an aisle made out of beer cans …” she said, “and I think it’s yucky.”
