Bar owner not ready for last call just yet Boro's jurisdiction questioned after denial of liquor license BY MICHAEL ACKER Staff Writer The Sayreville Borough Council shut down Johnny G's bar following a public hearing on the liquor license Monday. However, it is unclear whether that decision was theirs to make. The state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) had previously issued an order extending the liquor license until Oct. 22, and as a result, bar owner John Golaszewski believes the borough does not have jurisdiction over his liquor license. "That hearing that happened [Monday] should not have happened," Golaszewski said, adding that his attorney advised him not to speak at Monday's hearing. Borough officials said they closed the Embroidery Street bar - which was formerly known as Ben's Tavern and is located among older homes on a narrow street - for being a public nuisance. Their action comes a month after Golaszewski appealed to the state ABC regarding the borough's earlier denial of his liquor license. ABC then issued a consent order extending the liquor license. Golaszewski said that if the borough does not accept ABC's order, a state Superior Court judge will enforce it. "The state police will open up the bar," Golaszewski said, "because the town refused to abide by the state directive." Mayor Kennedy O'Brien said at Monday's hearing that the governing body has the authority to deny the liquor license. O'Brien asked that residents near the bar not feel threatened by acts of vandalism that have been alleged in retaliation for speaking out against the business. "Rest assured this is not something I will tolerate," O'Brien said. Golaszewski has denied that his patrons have committed any acts of vandalism to neighbors' vehicles, adding that his customers and employees have had damage done to their own cars when parked in the neighborhood. "I am appalled that this is happening also," Golaszewski said. "If there is a problem with an unruly patron, I do not want him there either." Golaszewski said he will discuss minor improvements to the outside of the building with the borough's code enforcement officials in the days ahead. "These are the facts," Golaszewski said. "No laws were ever broken, no summonses were ever issued. I was denied my right to due process. The borough overturned the opinion of a higher jurisdiction, the state. The town knew it should not have had a hearing. They acted on it incorrectly, therefore it will again be overruled." At the borough's hearing on the license Monday, residents of Embroidery, Cecelia and other nearby streets gave testimony that described issues they had with the business, including excessive noise, vandalism, public drunkenness, littering, parking and speeding on residential roads. Resident Michael Feis cited incidents of public drunkenness and littering on his property and around the bar. He said that noise from motorcycles belonging to patrons disturbs his children, as does patrons talking outside the bar. "We cannot ever have a quiet night there," Feis said. Antoinette Smith presented a petition with more than two dozen signatures from neighbors asking that the governing body deny the liquor license. She said she has a problem with the business having an unpublished phone number. She added that parked cars have blocked access to her driveway on several occasions. Smith said she had to pay $1,200 to replace her vehicle's bumpers due to acts of vandalism, and that she also witnessed a man driving drunk in the neighborhood. She said these problems pervade the entire community. "When you look at the petition, it is not just George Street [residents]," Smith said. "It is the whole neighborhood." After the public gave testimony, council President Thomas Pollando made a motion to deny the liquor license, and to close Johnny G's that night. The council voted unanimously in favor of shutting the bar down, and borough police enforced the council's action that night. Councilman John Melillo said residents should not have to live with the conditions they described. "I would not want this in my neighborhood," Melillo said. "There is no reason why you should have to put up with it in your neighborhood." In an order dated Aug. 15, the ABC called upon the establishment to pay $10,000 in monetary compromise in lieu of the requirement that the liquor license be transferred by June 1. Pollando told the Suburban that he will do everything possible to make sure that Johnny G's stays closed. "The council goes by what the residents want, not what he wants or what the ABC wants," Pollando said. "We are not opening up the bar until we get a direct order from a judge. This [business] is a public nuisance." Golaszewski described the borough's actions as unprecedented. He is asking that the borough renew his liquor license and pay for his legal fees associated with this matter. The ABC, he said, will determine how to proceed with the liquor license, Golaszewski said. He hopes to reopen the bar soon. "This is a bold step the town is taking," Golaszewski said.