The future site of a combination bar/restaurant, sports complex and shooting range in Toms River, Hooper Avenue and Fischer Boulevard. (Photo: Shorebeat)
Toms River council members are due to vote on the approval of a liquor license that would enable a forthcoming business to operate a restaurant and bar adjacent to a shooting range within the same complex – though in separate physical buildings, which has garnered some debate in recent weeks.
The complex would be located near the corner of Hooper Avenue and Fischer Boulevard, in the space previously occupied by Baiamonte’s Italian Restaurant and Boston’s Bar and Grill, as well as a golf driving range next door. The business, known in its infancy as the “Ocean County Sports Complex,” received land use approval by the planning board in 2024. But the township council – not the planning board – has jurisdiction over the issuance and renewals of liquor licenses. The transfer of a license from inactive status to active status in the name of Chili Wright LLC, the corporate name behind the complex, appears on the agenda for the Wednesday, April 13 council meeting.
According to state business records, the property is owned by Michael J. Wright Construction. The company did not respond to a request for comment on this story. Under the land use application in 2024, the two-story golf range, a 5,915 square foot restaurant, and a single-story gym facility would remain when the new business opens. The second floor is planned to be enclosed in order to add a bar and lounge with virtual golf, shuffleboard, pool tables, and arcade games. The existing gym is proposed to be converted to office, storage, maintenance, and retail.
The future site of a combination bar/restaurant, sports complex and shooting range in Toms River, Hooper Avenue and Fischer Boulevard. (Photo: Shorebeat)
New construction will include an approximately 20,594 square foot building addition to the existing restaurant for an indoor firearms/shooting range and retail floor area. The restaurant is proposed to be renovated and a new 14,850 square foot building is proposed to house batting cages and pickleball courts. The project would be capped with parking and other site improvements.
The combination of the shooting range and the bar drew a message of caution from Mark Mutter, a former township mayor, clerk, writer, and local attorney.
“When it comes to this specific license, I urge the council to give it the very highest level of consideration,” Mutter said at the last council meeting, held in late April. “Is it really a good idea to have a facility serving alcohol to have a shooting range as part of it? No doubt about it – liquor and guns is a dangerous mix. A short walk from this property are an elementary school, intermediate school, county college and church.”
Mutter told council members that if the resolution were to be approved, the governing body should consider placing significant conditions on its operation. Some of those conditions could include an requirement that the bar be closed when the range is open, regulations on the types of ammunition that can be used at the range, and a mandate for security to be provided at both facilities when they are open.
“I am aware of no similar situation in all of New Jersey where a bar is combined with a shooting range at one property,” said Mutter. “Trust me, I’m not against guns. We all have second amendment rights. But it is not unreasonable to worry about guns being combined with alcohol at one property. It’s all about safety.”
Indeed, a search by Shorebeat did not turn up any similar establishments in New Jersey, though sports complexes with ranges do exist – fairly commonly – in several other states. In 2024, the state Alcoholic Beverage Commission released updated guidance on the relationship between firearms and licensed bars and restaurants. A state statute passed in 2022 “prohibited the carrying of firearms in specific locations, including ‘a bar or restaurant where alcohol is served, and any other site or facility where alcohol is sold for consumption on the premises.'”
The prohibition is applicable to all persons – including CCW holders – except law enforcement officers and “persons with valid concealed-carry permits who are expressly authorized in writing by the licensee to provide security on premise.”
Fischer Boulevard, Toms River, N.J. (Photo: Daniel Nee)
While some aspects of the 2022 law were vacated by a federal court as the result of the Koons v. Platkin litigation, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the portion of the law that designated bars as “sensitive places” where guns would be prohibited. While the proposed establishment in Toms River will almost certain ban the physical carriage of firearms in the bar area, Mutter expressed concern about the larger idea of a range so close to an area where drinking is occurring.
“Whatever you do, please think long and hard about all of this, remembering that public safety and the protection of life are the highest responsibilities of public service,” he told the council.
The council will meet this Wednesday at 6:30 p.m. at the township municipal complex.
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