
Westfield, NJ to consider open container areas
During the pandemic, when restaurants were forced to seat people outdoors, the question of allowing alcohol to be served and consumed outdoors became an issue. Cape May, Atlantic City and North Wildwood allowed for seasonal open carry and consumption.
Atlantic City had allowed for people to purchase alcohol within the designated zones and drink openly on the Atlantic City Boardwalk, as well as within other sections of the city's tourism district, including the Orange Loop.
Earlier this year, Gov. Murphy signed into law a bill that allows municipalities in the rest of the state to designate outdoor areas where people can drink alcoholic beverages, and now some towns are looking to apply that law. Towns are allowed to designate the entire municipality or a section of it, such as a park or a few blocks of a downtown, as an “open container area," a pocket where people over 21 can carry and drink open containers of alcoholic beverages.
Westfield is one of those towns. According to TapInto Westfield, the executive committee of Downtown Westfield agreed unanimously that some areas should be designated as open container areas. One of those areas is the pedestrian plaza Open Quimby.
Downtown Westfield Corporation Executive Director Bob Zuckerman told TapInto, “Not only will it help the restaurants and the licensed establishments, who have mostly all suffered during COVID, but we think it will be a nice attribute for these specified areas within our downtown and will help attract more people downtown.”
Now it’s up to Westifeld’s town council to consider the measure.
Opinions expressed in the post above are those of New Jersey 101.5 talk show host Bill Doyle only.
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