Craft brewers balk as N.J. limits karaoke, open-mic sessions, and more | Kevin Riordan

Small craft breweries are boosting business districts in Pitman, Medford and other New Jersey towns, adding artisanal energy to once-empty storefronts and youthful vitality to formerly faded streets.

But some local brewers say preliminary state regulations that limit special events and impose other requirements will hamper their operations — and dampen the fledgling, small business-driven revival of long-struggling downtowns.

Events such as karaoke, yoga, open mic sessions, fund-raisers would be fewer in number, as would opportunities to partner with local organizations.

"It will gut our efforts to be part of the community," said Sean Galie, the owner of Lower Forge Brewery, in Medford. Small craft breweries are "more like a coffee shop" than, say, a sports bar, and more about neighborliness than imbibing, he said.

Nevertheless, Trenton seems bent on over-regulating them,  Galie said. It's a point of view that has inspired headlines such as "You may need a permit to have fun"  as well as some lively chatter on talk radio station NJ101.5. An online petition has attracted nearly 27,000 signatures.

And although some of the new regulations seem common-sensical (breweries now will be permitted to sell snacks, for example), even a teetotaler like me detects the distinctive, telltale bouquet of big government micro-management in the page after page of permitted procedures in the special ruling issued in September by New Jersey's division of Alcoholic Beverage Control.

"The impact on my business is going to be devastating," said Megan Myers, co-owner of the Human Village Brewing Co. on South Broadway in Pitman. Hers is one of two grassroots breweries that have enlivened the charming Gloucester County borough's heart.

"A lot of visitors come for events such as our open mic nights, and [fewer events] will have an effect on the shops and the restaurants," Myers said. The limit of 25 on-premises events annually is hardly enough to accommodate the demand at Human Village, she added.

Lower Forge "does 29 events a year just with Medford Township, like for their Third Thursday tourism event when they bring food trucks downtown," Galie said.

Supporters insist that the special ruling mostly clarifies and codifies existing limitations established by the 2012 legislation that opened the tap to craft brewery expansion in the state. There are now nearly 90 such establishments and more on the way.

"The regulations will be promulgated through the state's regular rulemaking process, which includes input from members of the public," Sharon Lauchaire, of the state Attorney General's office, said in an email. The office oversees the Alcoholic Beverage division. She said the regulations are being implemented on a "temporary pilot basis."

The pushback from the craft brewing community "is a little surprising," said Marilou Halvorsen, president of the 3,200-member New Jersey Restaurant & Hospitality Association.

"Breweries are saying things are being taken away from them, but they're not,"  she said. "When you sell a controlled substance, you're supposed to have regulations, and God knows, New Jersey likes regulations. The breweries don't just get a pass because some of them are screaming and yelling. In 2012, they asked for what they got — and now they want to change the rules."

Others said it's the ABC that's changing the rules.

"I'm shocked to see some of the shortsighted obstacles and hurdles being mandated on one of the fastest growing small business sectors in the state," Camden County Freeholder Director Louis Cappelli Jr. said in a statement.

Like the support for the 2012 legislation that spurred craft brewery expansion in the state, opposition to the ruling is bipartisan.

"I think the [ruling] went too far," said Assemblyman Tom Kean Jr. (R., Union), a lead sponsor of the 2012 measure, told NorthJersey.com. And U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross (D., N.J.), who sponsored the legislation as a state senator, issued a statement saying he is "disappointed" by the ruling.

Also disappointed: Greg and Joyce Smith and their daughter Caroline, 11, of Washington Township.

Caroline is an open mic night regular at Human Village, singing original songs and accompanying herself on ukelele.

"They're not making money off the entertainment," said Greg. "I don't understand why the state has to get involved."

Said Caroline: "I'm going to miss the people there. They really listen and they encourage me."

Last Thursday night, she played a song she wrote called "Possibilities."

"It's about things that are possible," said Caroline.

Perhaps it will strike a chord with the powers-that-be in Trenton.