Stetser's Tavern
Stetser’s Tavern at 2046 Federal Street.
Camden Courier-Post — March 5, 1982
Ken Shuttleworth and Renee Winkler
Still open — Stetser’s Tavern in Camden, the scene of a shooting Wednesday, avoided being closed by the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board yesterday.
Board’s attempt to shut tavern in Camden fails
By KEN SHUTTLEWORTH and RENEE WINKLER Of the Courier-Post
CAMDEN — The city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board failed at least temporarily yesterday in its effort to close down an East Camden tavern that has been a backdrop for criminal activities ranging from drug dealing to a shotgun murder on Wednesday night.
Bernard Goldberg, an administrative law judge presiding over the matter, postponed a decision until a legal technicality can be resolved. It stems from the board’s failure to notify the tavern operator, Robert Stetser, that his annual license renewal application was in jeopardy last June because of a number of complaints from city police officers and the tavern’s neighbors on Federal Street near 20th Street.
The board simply voted against renewal and notified him of the action. Stetser obtained a court order allowing him to remain open while he appealed the decision to Goldberg.
The judge listened to testimony from only one witness, former board chairman James Lowe, before ordering attorneys for both sides to file briefs on the technical defense raised by Stetser’s attorney, Owen Eisenberg. Michael DiCola, the first assistant city attorney, said
Please see BOARD, Page 7B
Still open
Stetser’s Tavern in Camden, the scene of a shooting Wednesday, avoided being closed by the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board yesterday.