Comedy club proposed for Cinema 9 building Primetime Sports Bar needs boro approval to extend liquor license BY JOHN DUNPHY Staff Writer SAYREVILLE — An area sports bar is hoping its bid for comedy doesn’t end in sorrow. Ethan H., the company that owns Primetime Sports Bar and Billiards Cafe in the Sayreville Plaza, Route 9, went before the Borough Council Monday night asking to extend its liquor license to a proposed comedy club in the former movie theater next to the bar. After public discussion, the council asked Primetime to return Oct. 5 with additional information regarding the layout of the proposal. The comedy club would operate out of the former Cinema 9 building, which housed an adult movie theater. The theater, which operated under a different owner, was shut down in 2002 due to code violations and the arrests of numerous patrons. The theater, which is about 10,000 square feet and can seat approximately 350 patrons, has lain fallow for the past three years. Currently, a common wall separates the theater from the bar. Keven Seltzer, one of the owners of Primetime, said total costs for renovations would be about $500,000, which includes costs needed to eliminate the common wall. Lawrence Sacks, the attorney representing Ethan H., said his clients have been good members of the community since the establishment opened in 2003. “They’ve been very diligent,” he told the Borough Council. “There have been no violations, no citations, no complaints whatsoever.” While police have been called to the strip mall parking lot on several occasions, Sacks said his clients have always been cooperative, and that any activities in the parking lot were the responsibility of the mall landlord. Several members of the council expressed concerns about the request, citing among other issues its close proximity to other establishments with liquor licenses. A borough ordinance states that businesses with liquor licenses cannot operate within 2,000 feet of one another. “[The theater] is within 2,000 feet of [another bar],” council President Frank Makransky said, referring to Bourbon Street, which also carries a liquor license. “To me, I just don’t feel right,” he added. Sacks said there was no apparent objection from Bourbon Street, as representatives were not present at the meeting. “What they’re looking to do is expand their existing license,” Sacks added. “The law does permit the expansion of a liquor license.” But Councilman Stanley Drwal questioned whether it was legal to expand the existing license to a different establishment. “I thought expansion meant expanding the current facility,” he said. “A sports club and a comedy club are two different things.” “It appears to be a roundabout way to get a second liquor license,” Drwal added. Borough Attorney Judy Verrone said the applicant would need a waiver for the 2,000 feet stipulation. “You’re expanding the existing licensed premises,” she said. “It’s almost analogous to having a license somewhere it’s not been before.” Mayor Kennedy O’Brien, saying it was difficult to visually grasp the idea, asked Ethan H. to come up with several new rough sketches of the proposed club as it would appear alongside the current bar. The sketches are expected to be presented at the council’s agenda/council meeting at 6 p.m. Oct. 5. “I just need to see what your idea is,” he said. Seltzer said the club he and his company have envisioned will be a high-quality, New York City-style establishment that could bring household names from the world of comedy to Sayreville. “I’m talking Howie Mandel. I’m talking Dave Chappelle,” he said. “I’m talking big names.” This is not the first time Primetime and the council have engaged in debate over liquor license issues. In June 2002, shortly before Primetime was to open, the council unanimously voted against a resolution that would have granted the business a liquor license. Though police stated there were no problems with the business operating in that location, council members expressed concerns about several businesses operating with liquor licenses in such close proximity to one another. Some residents also expressed grievances about the addition of the sports bar to the shopping center. The council’s decision was ultimately overturned by the state Office of Administrative Law in February 2003.