Mayor Brian Stack and the Union City Board of Commissioners voted to adopt ordinances Tuesday night that will provide incentives for liquor license holders to retire their licenses and for landlords to make improvements to their properties.
Also voted upon was the placement of two new stops signs along 17th Street – one at Bergenline Avenue and the other at New York Avenue – due largely, said Stack, to residents approaching him to point out their traffic concerns.
“I want to thank the public for their input,” Stack said.
Stack also noted that commissioners meetings are moved around the city on a meeting-to-meeting basis in order to increase public participation, as part of his overall campaign to make local government accessible to all Union City residents.
The meeting Tuesday was held at the Roosevelt School, 4507 Hudson Ave.
Liquor licenses
The council voted to adopt an ordinance that will increase the amount of money that the city will pay liquor license holders to retire their license.
The city will now pay up to $30,000 – in line with state statutes – for a license retirement, up from the previous amount of $10,000 to $15,000 per license.
“The [previous ordinance was] antiquated,” said city spokesman Mark Albiez.
Since his first year in the mayoral seat, Stack has paid particular attention to the violations of liquor licenses and the sale of alcohol to minors, two issues that have come under the public eye in the last few months.
“This administration has made it a priority to enhance quality of life,” Albiez said. “Increasing the amount [of money to retire a license] affords the city one more avenue to pursue liquor licenses of establishments problematic to the community.”
A Park Avenue restaurant and bar, Mexico Lindo, was set this week to regain use of its liquor license, which was suspended after Union City police alleged that the establishment had served alcohol to minors on a “teen night” back in November. A suspension, constraining Mexico Lindo to use as a restaurant only, went into effect on Jan. 24.
The club was being investigated by detectives in the aftermath of a killing outside the club in May.
The same restaurant’s liquor license had been suspended by the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board in 2002 and upheld by the state’s Division of ABC in 2004.
The state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC) Licensing Bureau processes and reviews the applications for new licenses, transfers, or renewals that are submitted by municipalities, and issues the appropriate license. The Division of ABC also has the power to order or uphold forfeiture or suspension of a license if the owner appeals a local decision.
Incentives for landlords
Through another adopted ordinance, landlords who make improvements to their properties may qualify for tax benefits.
To qualify, landlords who own two-family buildings would have to spend at least $15,000 in improvements, and landlords who own three- and four-unit buildings would have to invest $25,000.
“[The ordinance is geared toward overall] improvement of the housing stock in Union City,” Albiez said.
The city recently has focused heavily on quality of life issues for tenants.
At the beginning of the year, Stack sent out a letter to local superintendents requesting their contact information, so as to expedite the city’s response to residential complaints.
Back in September, in the wake of the Feisal Rauf slumlord allegations, Stack officially announced the formation of the Union City Quality of Life Task Force to actively seek residential violations and compel building owners to comply with regulations.
Deanna Cullen can be reached at dcullen@hudsonreporter.com.