Township Suspends Riya Chutney Liquor License

The South Brunswick Township Council voted at Tuesday evening's meeting to suspend the liquor license of a Route 1 banquet hall after multiple violations of conditions set forth when the license was renewed. 

Riya Chutney Manor, located at 3793 Route 1 in Monmouth Junction, will have its liquor license suspended for 60 days, though an appeal to the state Alcoholic Beverage Control could result in the owners paying a fine instead.

Riya Chutney Manor's liquor license was renewed about one year ago with the caveat that 17 conditions were to be met by the owners regarding various issues such as noise and traffic. 

At Tuesday's public hearing, Township Attorney Don Sears listed four separate violations that have occurred over the past few months. First, the owners were required to secure a lease from any property owner surrounding the banquet hall for additional cars to be parked during events. The owners asked for relief when they were unable to secure that lease, but the township denied the request.

In addition, Chutney Manor was forbidden from running more than one event at a time on weekends as part of the renewal conditions. The township cited two events held on July 20 at the same time, and three events held simultaneously during lunch and dinner hours on July 28.

General Manager Bharatkumar K. Patel, represented by lawyer James Stahl, told the council that a number of double-booked events were cancelled by Chutney Manor, but the events held simultaneously that violated the conditions were a result of being unable to find any other arrangements for their clients. 

"There were 12 to 15 events cancelled at considerable cost and rebooked at other restaurants," Stahl said. "(Riya) exposed themselves to litigation for breaching of contracts. On those two dates (in July when the violations occurred), there was no way they could (cancel the events). The individuals who booked it had no other place to go."

Stahl also asked the township to reconsider the condition of finding a lease for surrounding parking. Chutney Manor pays $10,000 for quasi-duty police officers and up to $900 for parking attendants to mitigate some of the issues with traffic, which Stahl said should be sufficient to address the township's concerns.

"We don't think there's a parking issue now with (quasi-duty police) and parking attendants," Stahl said. "Even on Thursdays, (Riya) acquired quasi-duty officers even though the condition is Friday to Sunday. We're doing what we can and we don't want another violation on the license."

While acknowledging the violations, Stahl said Chutney Manor would abide by all other conditions moving forward.

During the public hearing, two residents spoke to the long troubled history existing at the location, going back to the previous owner when Chutney Manor was called Flagpost. Resident Greg Rule said that the owners of the establishment coming before the council and "crying pity" was disingenuous when they knew they were in violation of the conditions.

"They should've known they could only have one event at a time because this has been (the condition) since the birth of the establishment," Rule said. "I have gone to them and tried to work things out with them, but they don't seem to pay attention to what anybody says. They do what they want. I'd bet my life that they have multiple events there again, but we'll take them at their word. I do hope they're genuine and do every step they can.

"We live there, they make money there. There's a big difference."

Resident Lewis Schwartz noted during the hearing that the web site for Chutney Manor states that there's an 800 visitor capacity, which he said speaks for itself. He also pointed to an incident one year ago where cars were queued from the entrance of the parking lot back to the jughandle adjacent to the location on Route 1.

Schwartz said South Brunswick Police were called to help alleviate the traffic backup, but that no report existed for the incident when he sought to obtain it.

"This has been going on for years. Their license is renewed every year," he said. "Why did we wait until this year, when this has been reported by myself and others? This has been going on since 1998."

Schwartz also questioned whether the lack of enforcement indicated that the owners of Chutney Manor are "untouchable," which drew an angry response from Mayor Frank Gambatese.

"There is no such thing as someone being untouchable," Gambatese said. "I resent that."

In closing, Stahl said the operators of Chutney had taken steps to reduce the noise by installing several sound dampening measures. He also said that historically, similar incidents in other towns where there were no issues with narcotics, underage drinking or immoral activities resulted in a seven-day license suspension.

Councilman Joseph Camarota said the conditions for the license renewal were made clear to the operators of Chutney Manor, and the fact that they ignored them created a credibility issue.

"You acted in accordance to what you believe, in total disregard to what we communicated," Camarota said during the hearing. "Those conditions were not met. Now we're talking about four recent violations. There's almost enough here to revoke the license for (the rest of the year). If we can do 30 days, 60 days, whatever the most is I'd be inclined to approve it."

Gambatese, Councilmen Charles Carley and Chris Killmurray also expressed frustration that the operators were well aware of the conditions and violated them anyway.

"I believe the folks at Riya have been letting these issues go for a long time and it's finally come to a head," Carley said. "So I'm inclined to go for (a 60-day) suspension."

Riya Chutney Manor was given a seven-day stay of suspension to plan accordingly for existing events, while Stahl indicated they would file an appeal with New Jersey Alcoholic Beverage Control. As part of the appeal, the state could then convert the suspension into a fine based on the number of days the suspension runs.

That money would be paid to the state, however, and not to the township.

"I think 60 days is excessive," Stahl said. "The Director (of Alcoholic Beverage Control) may agree or disagree."

Do you feel the suspension of Riya Chutney Manor's liquor license for 60 days was too severe, just right, or not severe enough? Tell us in the comments.