Breakfast Club license at issue
Club operation, parking issues stall council decision
BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer

The owner of the Breakfast Club 80 is having a tough time convincing Old Bridge officials that his establishment is a restaurant with a bar, not a dance club.

The issue has surfaced as club owner Michael Vanleeuwen is seeking to renew the liquor license for the club, which opened earlier this year.

In the meantime, alcoholic beverages are still sold at the business, located at Route 516 and Old Matawan Road, using the same liquor license he obtained when he bought stock in the corporation of the previous licensee, New Jersey Wine and Spirits Inc.

After a hearing before the Township Council wrapped up on Sept. 15, a vote on the renewal of the liquor license was put off until the governing body can review the testimony of witnesses, including a municipal code enforcement officer and the architect who designed the building’s interior.

At the advice of Township Attorney William Ruggierio, the council voted 6-0 to postpone a decision on Vanleeuwen’s liquor license renewal until its next agenda session, Oct. 20.

Lingering questions about the nature of the Breakfast Club operation and related issues about parking and occupancy should be resolved before the council renders its decision, Ruggierio said.

Ruggierio’s decision followed testimony about the building’s interior design presented by Frank Meleto, the architect who designed the Breakfast Club’s current floor plan. Meleto, of Long Valley, testified at the request of James Segreto, the North Haledon-based attorney representing Vanleeuwen.

The Breakfast Club property has the capacity for 67 vehicles in its parking lot, Segreto told the council.

Meleto testified that the establishment now has seating capacity for 64 patrons at a total of 16 tables with four seats each and no seats in the bar area.

Township code enforcement regulations require that nightclubs offer one parking spot for every two patron seats, Meleto said.

If the Breakfast Club is to be considered a nightclub with seat­ing for 64 patrons, 32 spots would be required, he stated.

Referring to the same township regulations, Meleto pointed out that restaurants with bars are re­quired to offer one parking space for every three patron seats.

In either scenario, the Break­fast Club exceeds the township’s code enforcement regulations by offering 67 parking spots, Meleto said.

"(The parking spaces) exceed the criteria for a restaurant with bar and would meet the criteria for a bar with a nightclub," Meleto said.

Old Bridge’s code enforcement regulations do not tie maximum occupancy in with parking capac­ity either, Meleto stated.

"The number of occupants has nothing to do with the parking spots under the zoning ordinance of this municipality," Meleto said.

In addition, because the Break­fast Club does have a kitchen where food is prepared and sold for consumption on the premises, it should be defined as a restaurant in accordance with township regu­lations, Meleto stated.

However, Mike Serdinsky, a code enforcement officer, testified that the Breakfast Club should be considered a dance hall because many tables shown in the original plans have been removed to create a larger dance floor.

In November, four months prior to the establishment’s March open­ing, Vanleeuwen’s previous archi­tect submitted plans to the town­ship for a restaurant/bar with a full-service kitchen and seating for 201 patrons.

Since then, however, the menu has been scaled back to snack foods prepared in a microwave oven, Serdinsky noted.

As a result, the Breakfast Club should not be considered a restau­rant, he said.

By decreasing seating capacity, enlarging the dance floor and scal­ing back the menu, Vanleeuwen changed the use of the property from a restaurant with a bar to a dance hall, Serdinsky said.

While a restaurant with bar is a permitted use in the commercial-neighborhood (CN) zone where the Breakfast Club is located, a dance hall is not permitted, he added.

"You’re changing the use," Serdinsky told Segreto. "You have a big dance floor with less tables now."

If he planned to change the use, Vanleeuwen should have sought a use variance from the township’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, Serdinsky said. Because Van­leeuwen did not seek a use vari­ance, the Breakfast Club is in vio­lation of the township’s zoning or­dinances, he said.

Breakfast Club patrons come to the establishment for dancing, not to eat a sit-down meal, Serdinsky said.

"A dance hall is primarily where people go to dance," Serdinsky said. "At a restaurant the primary focus is food."

Segreto argued that the Break­fast Club operation does not differ from previous uses of the 50-year-old building.

"It has been a bar with a restaurant and dancing for as long as it has been there," Segreto said.

The Breakfast Club occupies a building that formerly housed McGuire’s Restaurant and Sports Bar, which closed in 2001.

Residents living on streets near the Breakfast Club have com­plained to township officials that parking winds up in front of their homes once the establishment’s parking lot is filled. They have also complained about patrons becom­ing noisy and disorderly when leaving the Breakfast Club, which closes at 3 a.m. on Friday and Sat­urday nights.