By JOANNE L. PAPAIANNI
A dispute about the expansion of a liquor license owned by restaurateur Tim McLoone on the Asbury Park boardwalk was settled in Trenton when James Graziano, acting director of the Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control, decided in favor of McLoone.
McLoone’s Supper Club and The Robinson Ale House, both located in the Fifth Avenue Pavilion on the boardwalk, are owned by McLoone. He recently opened The Iron Whale restaurant in the same pavilion and applied for liquor license expansion.
The City Council turned down the request because it said the three requirements for the expansion, which were established by the state, were not met.
On May 29 Mayor John Moor traveled to Trenton for a hearing by the state ABC. After lawyers for the state and the city were heard Graziano overruled the city and made his decision in favor of allowing the license expansion.
“We did not want to make the decision at the local level. We wanted Trenton to decide…so we could use it as guidance for the future,” Moor said.
