No Complaints at Public Hearing on Waters Edge

The owner of Martell's Water's Edge will have to wait until June 28 to find out if he can extend the hours live music can be played on a bayfront sound stage at the restaurant on Bayview Avenue.

Owner David Basinder wants to increase the hours on Mondays through Thursdays from 10 p.m. to 12 a.m. as part of the restaurant's liquor license conditions.

"It's better for business," his lawyer Michael B. York said after the public hearing.

York said Basinder had taken a number of steps to decrease the noise from the music, including building "big, big walls" for an enclosed sound stage area.

"There's been one complaint over the past four or five years," York said after the hearing. "There were no noise violations issued by the township."

"I've said it before," Basinder told the council. "I'm trying to be the best neighbor these people have had in a long time. I think I've accomplished that."

Council President Karen Davis said the Waters Edge was a "fun place." But she noted that the restaurant had undergone some changes since Basinder purchased it back in 2003, including putting a bar on the outside deck.

Davis asked Basinder if he would consider moving the music inside the restaurant.

"That's a hell of a question," Basinder said. "I don't see that with the design of the building."

Basinder said it might be a possibility if he puts a second story on the restaurant. But moving the music inside the current construction might disturb patrons, he said.

Councilwoman Judy Noonan asked Basinder if he would consider extending the music hours to 11 p.m. instead of midnight.

"I will consider anything," Basinder said "I'm amenable.

"I've said it before," Basinder told the council. "I'm trying to be the best neighbor these people have had in a long time. I think I've accomplished that."

"I think Mr. Basinder has been a model business owner in our town," Council Vice-President Carmen J. Amato Jr. said. "I don't get out there as much as I'd like to. I think Mr. Basinder is open to any suggestions."

Dogwood Drive resident James J. Byrnes said some noise during the summer is to be expected.

"The summer there (Dogwood Drive) the noise is unbelievable along the lagoon," said Byrnes, who is president of the Berkeley Township Board of Education. "That's the summer at the shore. We suck it up. I think the council needs to do all that it can to help businesses. Go up and down Route 9. They need help. Our businesses need help."

Only a few people spoke during the public hearing. Council members and Mayor Jason J. Varano then went into closed session to discuss the matter.

The state Open Public Meetings Act allows governing bodies to go into closed session following a public hearing on a liquor license, Township Attorney Patrick Sheehan said.

"The council can go into closed session to discuss the request," he said. "You don't need to make a decision this evening."

And they didn't. Davis announced after the closed session the council would announce a decision at the June 28 Township Council meeting. The license must be renewed by July 1.