Politics & Government

Liquor Petitions Filed; Supporters Embark on Public Education Campaign

Two petitions for ballot questions regarding liquor sales in Moorestown are now in the hands of the township clerk.

The petition to get a ballot question allowing liquor sales in town was filed with the township clerk Friday—but first, supporters will ask the Town Council to take up the measure.

were dropped off just before 12:30 p.m. Friday at the municipal offices at 2 Executive Dr. One is for a ballot initiative that would allow liquor sales in town. The other is a petition restricting liquor sales to full-service restaurants at the Moorestown Mall.

The latter petition also asks Town Council to pass an ordinance approving the restrictions. If Council votes no or declines to take up the issue, voters will decide on the November ballot.

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It’s common practice for groups to first petition a town’s governing body to take up an issue, but to use a ballot question as another avenue for approval. Seth Broder, a spokesman for the pro-ballot question group Tax Relief for Moorestown, said he assumes both questions will go before voters rather than Town Council deciding.

“The point is, this shouldn’t be a political issue,” Broder said. “It’s not a political issue, it’s about the economic state of our town.”

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Moorestown officials would not release the filed petitions, saying they had to be certified first by Township Clerk Patricia Hunt. She has 20 days to certify or reject the petitions.

Broder estimated 1,400 signatures were on each petition. Certification requires about 1,160 signatures from registered Moorestown voters.

Supporters of allowing liquor sales at Moorestown Mall will now embark on “phase two,” Broder said, a public education campaign designed to sway Moorestown voters to approve the ballot measures.

“All we want to do is disprove the propaganda, innuendo and untrue facts that are just being used to scare people,” Broder said.

On paper, supporters could have an uphill battle on their hands. Four years ago, voters rejected, by a 2-1 margin, a ballot question to allow liquor sales in town. That question did not have a second question attached to restrict liquor sales to the mall.

The new push to issue liquor licenses has proved just as contentious. Some residents worry that it will change Moorestown’s character, do little to solve the mall’s economic woes or residents will not see any benefits. Others say it’s a stepping stone to allowing liquor sales on Main Street.

Broder, however, sees promise this time around. The restriction to the Moorestown Mall has convinced doubters, he said, and residents see the need for an economic injection at the mall.

“The mall is the biggest taxpayer in Moorestown, but as it continues to deteriorate, we all feel it. If it increases in value, we’ll all benefit,” Broder said.

Part of “phase two” is convincing voters that liquor sales will provide an economic boost that will benefit residents in the long run, and, he said, debunking the idea that Main Street will change from the ballot initiative.

Asked about holding a pubic forum on the issue, Broder said, “We’ll do whatever we need to disseminate truthful information, whether that means meetings (or) talking with Rotary Clubs or church groups.”

Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust (PREIT) owns the Moorestown Mall and the Cherry Hill Mall, which added new restaurants in recent years that serve alcohol. Supporters of liquor sales often cite Cherry Hill Mall as an example of what they’d like the Moorestown Mall to look like.

PREIT Services President Joseph Coradino did not return a call seeking comment Friday.


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