Court order temporarily halts Asbury Park's indoor dining plans

Asbury Park officials are advising restaurants in the town to not reopen for indoor dining on Monday after the state filed a lawsuit.

News 12 Staff

Jun 12, 2020, 6:36 PM

Updated 1,548 days ago

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Asbury Park officials are advising restaurants in the town to not reopen for indoor dining on Monday after the state filed a lawsuit.
Asbury Park's City Council on Wednesday night approved a resolution permitting restaurants to host diners indoors on Monday, with some restrictions. This was in direct violation of Gov. Phil Murphy’s executive order which is only allowing outdoor dining.
Murphy announced Friday that the state was filing a lawsuit to put a stop to the plans, which resulted in the New Jersey Superior Court issuing an order which temporarily halts Asbury Park from allowing indoor bar and restaurant serve.
“Due to this action, we are advising Asbury Park businesses not to open indoors as we had announced earlier this week,” Asbury Park officials said in a statement. “Opening indoors would violate the court order and could jeopardize your business’s liquor licenses and subject violators to fines and other penalties."
Asbury Park officials initially passed the resolution because the governor’s executive order states that retail businesses can allow customers inside with 25% capacity or 50 people, whichever is lower. Asbury Park officials stated that they took this to mean restaurants could open as well.
The Associated Press wire services contributed to this report.