Residents vote to lift 120-year-old ban on selling alcohol in this New Jersey town
HADDON HEIGHTS, NJ - Soon, diners in Haddon Heights could be allowed to enjoy a cocktail with a nice meal out. The town is one of the few remaining 'dry towns' in New Jersey, but as Steve Keeley reports, that could come to an end in the next year.
At Kunkel's Seafood and Steakhouse on Kings Highway in Haddon Heights, there was an election win. Unfortunately, it came 20 years too late for the establishment, which had been busy with dining customers but had an empty bar lacking people, drinks, and a bartender—just as it has been since they started 20 years ago because Haddon Heights, for the past 120 years, has been a dry town where no liquor was allowed to be sold.
"20 years ago the council that was in at the time said come to the town, open up here instead of going someplace else, build a bar, we're gonna pass a liquor license and it never came," recalled John Kunkel, owner of Kunkel's.
By a three to two margin, Haddon Heights voters said 'yes' to allowing restaurants to serve alcoholic drinks with dinner Tuesday.
Now it's up to the mayor and council to draw up the ordinance.
"I was thrilled. We were thrilled last night to see that it passed," said Zachary Houck, Haddon Heights Mayor.
120-year-old ban on selling alcohol could finally end in this New Jersey town
November 5 is not only a historic day for the country, but it could also be a game-changer for a town in Camden County as voters will decide to end a more than 100-year ban on selling alcohol.
"We both voted 'yes' for it, which is fine, because I think it's not a bad thing. But I don't know that we're gonna want to do it now at this point. We waited so long for it that I don't know if that's something we want to do in the long run," shared Carol Kunkel, co-owner of Kunkel's Seafood & Steakhouse.
At their ages, they may not stay in business long enough to make enough to recoup the high cost of getting a liquor license. They can only imagine how much business they have lost in the last 20 years from customers who chose instead to dine where they can have a drink too.
"We lose a lot of business as a town with people leaving and going somewhere else to have a drink. When it comes to holidays, people usually gather within your town. We have nowhere to gather. They gather out of town," John Kunkel lamented.
Still working hard after many her age have already retired, owner and hostess Carol Kunkel isn't in the mood for a career change.
When asked if she had any interest in being a barmaid, she responded with a laugh, "No, absolutely not."