Belmar Mayor, Officials Stymie Plans For New Bar, Two Claim In Suit

BELMAR -- High and dry. That's a good way to describe the situation the owners of the would-be bar Salt say they find themselves in.

Tim and Matt Harmon have filed suit against Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty and other borough officials. They claim that Doherty and others improperly preventedthe bar from opening last summer, according to app.com.

The two say in the lawsuit they were denied due process and "threats and improper influence in official political matters were made."

Their plan for a temporary bar was included in a Redevelopment Agreement the Borough Council approved in November 2013 and by the Planning Board in January 2014. But council members refused to allow the brothers to transfer their liquor license from their restaurant across the street from Salt.

The brothers claim in the suit that Doherty and Borough Administrator Colleen Connolly told employees to interfere with their operation and told them to give preferential treatment to other property owners, according to the report.

Belmar owns and leases out the 9th Avenue Pier, a tented outdoor bar and restaurant within walking distance of Salt along the riverfront walkway. Chefs International runs the 9th Avenue Pier, leasing the space from the borough.

The Harmons also contend that the Belmar Police Department and then-Capt. Andrew Huisman, now chief, purposely delayed the investigation necessary for the liquor license transfer to be made.

“This is a frivolous and baseless lawsuit that lacks any merit,” Doherty said in an e-mail. “I am particularly disturbed by the way Tim Harmon and Matt Harmon viciously attack the Belmar Police Department with false allegations. Their police bashing is clearly a way to undermine our Police Department.”

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Image: Point Beach Chamber of Commerce