Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) today announced that Landmark Americana Tap & Grill in Ewing will curtail its business hours, stop serving drink specials that promote unsafe drinking, and otherwise change its business practices under conditions negotiated in the wake of a fatal motor vehicle crash linked to the bar, which recently opened on the campus of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ).
Under a Consent Order to be issued by ABC Acting Director James B. Graziano, Landmark Ewing LLC, t/a Landmark Americana (Landmark) will stop serving alcohol at 11 pm Thursday through Saturday and at 9:15 pm the rest of the week; cease selling mixed-drink “fishbowls”, pitchers and buckets of beer, and other drink specials; draft and submit a security plan that addresses overconsumption, underage drinking and crowd control; and adhere to other conditions curtailing its business activities.
“When alcohol and driving are mixed, the consequences can be deadly, so it is vitally important that establishments that serve alcohol do so responsibly,” said Attorney General Grewal. “The restrictions placed on the Landmark Americana will help prevent excessive drinking and other unsafe behaviors that can lead to tragedy.”
The terms of the Consent Order were reached Thursday afternoon as part of a scheduled hearing in which the Acting Director considered the Enforcement Bureau’s (EB) request to impose restrictions on the temporary permit authorizing Landmark to do business in the TCNJ retail center known as “Campus Town.”
Landmark has been was operating under a temporary authorization permit issued on October 18, 2018. The temporary authorization permit was issued to allow the ABC to continue its review of an application for a State concessionaire permit to sell and serve alcohol on state-owned land.
The Acting Director’s decision to impose conditions on Landmark’s temporary permit is based on an investigation currently underway into a fatal car accident involving a driver who departed the Landmark on December 2, 2018, as well as several other matters of concern brought to the EB’s attention regarding the Landmark.
Among the conditions included the Consent Order, Landmark also must:
Close on or before midnight on Thursday through Saturday, and on or before 10 pm the rest of the week;
Schedule and conduct monthly meetings with the TCNJ police to discuss operation of the permitted premises and law enforcement concerns;
Sell only one alcoholic beverage per patron at a time; and
Maintain the establishment’s existing security cameras in their current locations, store recorded video in an accessible format for a minimum of 45 days, and turn over videos to law enforcement within 48 hours of request.
The special conditions take effect on January 15, 2019, with the exception of the security plan, which is to be submitted by January 22, 2019.
The conditions will remain in place until further action by Acting Director Graziano.
Landmark’s temporary permit has been extended to January 15 after which time it will be renewed for another 30-day period with the conditions set forth in the Consent Order. Following that, renewals will be considered on a month-to-month basis, subject to the foregoing conditions or any other conditions that the Acting Director may impose based upon a review of any comments received by ABC.