Ocean City's long status as 'dry' Shore town

OCEAN CITY, N.J. - It's been 130 years since brothers Ezra, S. Wesley and James Lake sailed along this barrier island in search of a spot to develop a Christian resort - a seaside haven where the Sabbath would be strictly upheld and alcohol sales would forever be banned.

The "blue law," which prevented the purchase of everything from canned goods to beach toys on Sundays, was repealed in 1987.

But Ocean City's status as a dry town remains fiercely protected by the city's largest religious organization, founded by the Lakes when they created their Methodist camp retreat.

"It's really not a religious issue. It's more of a family values issue," said Richard Stanislaw, president of the Ocean City Tabernacle.

The tabernacle objected this spring when a local soccer club organized a banquet at the venerable Flanders Hotel and sold tickets implying that alcohol would be available. City officials agreed to enforce the alcohol ban and the group's 80 guests went without wine at dinner.

Private parties, such as weddings and birthday parties held at restaurants and clubs, aren't the tabernacle's target, Stanislaw said. It's public functions, such as fund-raisers for which tickets are sold, where the city's commitment to temperance is in danger of being eroded.

"We're not opposed to alcohol - that's a personal decision. But as an organization, we have a responsibility to the original deeds and governing covenants of those deeds which indicate that no alcohol should ever be sold or consumed in public," Stanislaw said. "We want to see that upheld."

When the Lakes established Ocean City, the Revivalist movement was at a fever pitch. In its early days, the 11-square-mile town was governed mostly by its residents' religious tenents. The prohibition on bars and package-goods stores distinguished it from more raucous Jersey Shore towns such as Atlantic City, 10 miles to the north.

The city, now marketed as "America's Greatest Family Resort," evolved into a regular municipality subject to state and federal laws. But to this day, every deed for property transferred in Ocean City includes language forbidding the sale and public consumption of alcohol.

In the 1890s, officials debated whether to allow a few "licensed houses" to sell liquor, fearing that the town couldn't succeed otherwise. But the Tabernacle Association remained steadfast in its commitment to temperance.

Writing in 1995, the tabernacle's then-president, William G. Luff, explained that the group acquiesced to "changing times" when it agreed to allow commerce on the Sabbath, but was unlikely to risk the town's "charms and most important characteristics" by giving in on alcohol.

Though attendance at the tabernacle has waxed and waned over the decades, the interdenominational organization maintains considerable influence in this city of 15,000 year-round residents.

Though Ocean City isn't New Jersey's most restrictive church-founded beach enclave - Ocean Grove, a dry community in Monmouth County, prohibits ocean swimming before noon on Sundays - its elected officials have never challenged the tabernacle on the alcohol issue, according to Jim Fraser, manager of catering operations at the Flanders.

"We respect the tabernacle and its traditions, but we still have a business to run, and as long as we follow the state laws regarding alcohol, we should be allowed to operate just as any other business in the state of New Jersey," Fraser said.

Representatives of the Ocean City Barons soccer club, whose alcohol-free banquet was at the hotel, would not discuss the controversy with The Inquirer. Fraser said that a club official told the Flanders that it would likely hold its dinner in another town next year.

To many visitors and residents, being dry distinguishes the resort as a wholesome family destination, said Michele Gillian, executive director of the Ocean City Regional Chamber of Commerce.

The trade group's members understand that "those ground rules . . . established a long time ago are what make Ocean City such a unique place," she said. "We're different from other places, and I think that's what keeps people coming back here."

But there is a sense of frustration among some proprietors, Fraser said. Restaurants and businesses such as the Ocean City Yacht Club find themselves in the quandary of trying to satisfy customers while adhering to the stringent ordinances, he said.

Mayor Sal Perillo has assured the tabernacle that the city will continue to uphold the liquor ban, Stanislaw said.

"There will be no sale of alcohol in Ocean City during my watch," Perillo wrote in a letter to Stanislaw following the group's objections concerning the soccer event.

Perillo did not respond to calls from The Inquirer, but Stanislaw said the mayor had directed the city solicitor to meet with the state's alcoholic beverage control division to determine the difference between public and private parties and how state regulations apply locally.

Stanislaw was told that the agency could provide no "bright-line test."

Under state statute, nonprofits and charities may obtain from a municipality a one-day "social license" that allows them to serve - but not sell - alcohol at a fund-raiser. The city clerk and local police chief are required to approve such applications. Last year, 13 were obtained in Ocean City. The Ocean City Barrons did not apply for a social license, Fraser said.

"Those licensed basically say that 'we serve alcohol within the parameter of an event. We don't bring it in. We don't profit from it,' " Fraser said.

He and Stanislaw said that they did not want to see the alcohol-sales ban in restaurants turn into a lawsuit. But a local editorial writer pointedly questioned the church-based agreement in a recent blog entry:

"If the Ocean City Tabernacle, the city's largest religious organization, demanded that the city require all women to wear burqas, would the town's elected officials go along with it?"