A UCrawl promo video showed scenes from an April, 2012, bar crawl it held in Red Bank. (Photo by John T. Ward. Click to enlarge)

By JOHN T. WARD

Mayor Pasquale Menna says he wants Red Bank to adopt procedures for the approval of “bar crawls” after Belmar shut down one billed as “the largest charity bar crawl the town has ever seen” over a failure to obtain permits.

The Asbury Park Press reported Friday that Belmar had barred a townwide bar crawl scheduled for October 21 because no permits had been sought from the town by organizer Neptune-based UCrawl Bar Crawl and sponsor Shore Point Distributors.

Belmar borough Attorney Greg Cannon said the shutdown was ordered out of fear that hundreds or possibly thousands of intoxicated patrons would be winding their way through the borough, the Press reported.

Max Lowy, who owns UCrawl, told the Press that the company had organized about 35 crawls over seven years, including ones in Belmar and Red Bank, but “this is the first time this has ever happened to us.”

Proceeds from Saturday’s seven-bar event, with tickets priced at $25 in advance, were to have gone to Move for Hunger, an Asbury Park charity.

Belmar Mayor Matt Doherty, however, “grew concerned after he saw the event touted on social media as the biggest pub crawl the town has seen,” the Press reported.

“This isn’t limited to certain group of friends,” he said. It is “trying to make it the largest bar crawl the town has ever seen. That’s not in the same ballpark as a group of friends getting together and going bar to bar for some reason. It’s not even close.”

More from the Press article:

[UCrawl’s] website features a video of a pub crawl in Red Bank with the caption: “With 400+ UCrawlers, we stopped at 7 different bars in a 10 hour period while also causing some of the greatest traffic jams. The weather was great, the beer was cold, and we had an amazing experience. We can’t wait to visit your city!”

But Red Bank Mayor Pasquale “Pat” Menna said Friday he couldn’t remember the event.

Menna wrote in a Facebook post late Friday that he’s directing the police chief, borough administrator and other officials  to “immediately create standards” for the review and approval of pub crawl events, which he said “have become problematic ob our public space.”

“There is no definitive regulation and we must regulate it since the propensity for incidents that impact the public must be considered,” he wrote.

He said he’ll be proposing an ordinance that requires approvals for such events be obtained both from the special events as well as the council.

Cannon, a councilmember in Aberdeen, is also Red Bank’s borough attorney.