In Harmon v. Borough of Belmar, a municipality paid $2.81 million in November to settle a suit by the prospective operators of a bar and outdoor cafe who claimed that local officials used their regulatory authority to obstruct the project.
The plaintiffs, Timothy and Matthew Harmon, operators of various restaurants and taverns, brought the suit in U.S. District Court against Belmar; Matthew Doherty, who was the mayor, and several other town officials. The Harmons signed a three-year lease in 2014 to open their establishment, to be known as Salt, as part of a redevelopment project, and to transfer a liquor license to that site from an establishment they owned elsewhere in the town, according to court documents. But Doherty expressed opposition to the Harmons’ plans and said they would never be allowed to open at the site, said Richard Shaklee of McLaughlin, Stauffer & Shaklee in Wall, who represented the plaintiffs along with Roger McLaughlin of the same firm.
