33:1-12.39. Active use required for renewal of Class C license; fee.
1. a. On and after the effective date of P.L.2023, c.290 (C.33:1-10b et al.), a plenary retail consumption license as defined in R.S.33:1-12 shall not be renewed if the license has not been actively used in connection with the operation of a licensed premises within two consecutive license terms. A license that remains inactive at the end of the two-year period shall expire, provided, however, the governing body of a municipality may, in its discretion, extend the period during which the license may remain inactive, if it is satisfied that the licensee is making a good faith effort to activate or transfer the license either within or without the municipality. If the governing board of a municipality denies a licensee’s request to extend the expiration date of its inactive license, a licensee may appeal to the director within 30 days after receipt of the notice of denial. b. Notwithstanding subsection a. of this section, if the licensee has been deprived of the use of the licensed premises as a result of a failure to obtain governmental approval despite a good faith effort to do so, eminent domain, fire, or other casualty, and establishes by affidavit filed with the director that the licensee is making a good faith effort to resume active use of the license in connection with the operation of a licensed premise, the time period provided for in this section shall be automatically extended for an additional period of two license terms. c. Following the effective date of P.L.2023, c.290 (C.33:1-10b et al.), prior to the expiration of an inactive license pursuant to subsection a. of this section, an inactive license shall be: (1) actively used by the license holder; (2) transferred in a private transaction for fair market value to another person who intends to use the license. The transferee shall actively use the license in connection with a premises upon receipt of the license; or (3) transferred from a sending municipality to a receiving municipality in accordance with sections 4 through 6 of P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b through C.33:1-24.3d). d. The director shall divide the inactive plenary retail consumption licenses that were placed on inactive status prior to the effective date of P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b et al.) into quartiles based on the total length of time that the licenses have been inactive. The licenses shall be transferred pursuant to subsection c. of this section in accordance with the following time schedule: (1) the quartile that has been inactive for the longest period of time shall be transferred pursuant to subsection c. of this section within one year of the effective date P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b et al.); (2) the quartile that has been inactive for the second longest period of time shall be transferred pursuant to subsection c. of this section within two years following the effective date of P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b et al.); (3) the quartile that has been inactive for the third longest period of time shall be transferred pursuant to subsection c. of this section within three years following the effective date of P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b et al.); and (4) the quartile that has been inactive for the shortest period of time shall be transferred pursuant to subsection c. of this section within four years following the effective date of P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b et al.). (5) Any licenses that were subject to prior versions of this section and were divided into quartiles and subsequently denied the ability to be actively used are hereby reissued, and subject to the revised dates set forth by P.L.2026, c.46 (C.33:1-24.3b et al.). e. (Deleted by amendment, P.L.2026, c.46) f. Notwithstanding the limitation set forth in section 2 of P.L.1947, c.94 (C.33:1-12.14), a plenary retail consumption license that is not in active use or transferred either within or without the municipality in accordance with subsection c. of this section may, following expiration of time to appeal or, if an appeal has been taken, relief has been denied, be reissued at public sale in a manner consistent with the provisions of P.L.1975, c.275 (C.33:1-19.1 et seq.) for use at a licensed premises located within the municipality. Any plenary retail consumption license issued pursuant to this subsection shall be of the same license type as the expired license and shall be used in a manner consistent with the provisions of Title 33 of the Revised Statutes and any regulations promulgated by the director. g. The provisions of this section requiring an inactive plenary retail consumption license to expire shall not apply to a governing body of a municipality that holds any inactive plenary retail consumption license for the purpose of issuing that license for use in connection with a premises located within a redevelopment, improvement, or revitalization area as defined by section 3 of P.L.2023, c.290 (C.33:1-24.3a). L.1977,c.246,s.1; amended 1992, c.188, s.8; 1996, c.127,s.1; 2023, c.290, s.4; 2026, c.46, s.7.