SHOREBLOG - BOARDWALK

Twenty-five cent skee ball on a lazy, humid Monday night at Frank's Fun Center on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk.

(Andrew Mills/The Star-Ledger)

TRENTON — An obscure law that dates back to the 1950s is stopping a Texas-based entertainment chain from opening shop in New Jersey, and two state lawmakers are seeking to change that.

Dave & Buster’s — a bar and restaurant that’s a sort of Chuck E. Cheese for adults — has for nearly two years been lobbying lawmakers to repeal a ban on establishments that serve alcohol from having “amusement games.”

The ban is part of a 1959 law that regulates such games, which can be skill-based or games of chance — from the balloon pop at the carnival to skee ball at the arcade. The games offer a reward, from a prize you can win on the spot to tickets you can redeem for prizes at a counter counter.

They’re popular with kids, and ubiquitous on the boardwalk. But they’re also part of business model of Dave and Busters, which operates in 30 states, including New York and Pennsylvania.

“They have a very strong interest in coming into New Jersey. They’re already in New York and Pennsylvania, and a lot of the surrounding states, and New Jersey is one of the only states in the country that have this ban on serving alcohol and games of chance on any other premises,” said Robert Mintz, a New Jersey lawyer who’s representing the chain.

Mintz said he began making that case about a year ago before the Red Tape Review Commission, which Gov. Chris Christie set up shortly after taking office.

It’s prompted bipartisan legislation that’s been introduced in the state Senate and Assembly.

"The whole objective of the Red Tape Review Commission is to make the state a more attractive place to operate a business, and this is why they ended up before our commission," said Assemblyman Scott Rumana (R-Passaic), who introduced the bill to repeal the ban (A2897) in March. It was put forward in the state Senate last month by Peter Barnes (D-Middlesex).

But getting all parties on board with legislation can be a bit like whack-a-mole, and Rumana said he’s going to have to find a way to tweak it to deal with the concerns of shore business owners concerned that Dave & Busters could keep people away from the beach.

Seeking to allay those concerns, Dave & Buster's in 2013 unsuccessfully sought a waiver from the ban with the New Jersey Games of Chance Control Commission, during which it said it would not open up a store within 15 miles of the shore in several counties.



"We do want to tweak this thing a little bit and make sure we're not hurting anybody's interests," Rumana said. "But at the same time, it makes no sense not to allow it for the rest of the state."

Nobody’s quite sure why lawmakers 55 years ago decided to ban alcohol and games of chance in the same place, but Ed McGlynn, a lobbying for the New Jersey Amusement Association, said it probably had something to do with keeping kids away from alcohol.

McGlynn said the bill as written may not solve all of Dave & Buster’s problems.

For instance, there’s some potentially thorny legal issues the bill doesn’t address. Deep in the state’s amusement game regulations is a provision that only allows amusement games in municipalities where voters approved in referendums — and, in those towns, only at amusement parks, seashore resorts and agricultural fairs.

And McGlynn said the bill to usher in Dave and Buster’s is currently so broad that his organization wouldn’t support it.

“I do think the bill is primarily intended for Dave and Buster’s, but in its present form I obviously would oppose it,” he said.

But McGlynn said he’s in contact with lobbyists for the chain, and they might be able to work something out.

“Dave and Buster’s is generally a pretty good operation,” he said. “If we could work out a geographic area or something that my clients would be agreeable to, then perhaps we would agree to something.”

Matt Friedman may be reached at mfriedman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MattFriedmanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

MORE POLITICS