Hearing on 64-Unit Downtown Complex Adjourned in Toms River

A 64-unit mixed-use complex proposed for downtown Toms River, April 2024. (Photo: Planning Document)

The hearing on a proposal to build a five-story, mixed-use building that was slated to be heard by the Toms River planning board Wednesday night has been adjourned.

The township’s newly-appointed planner is promulgating several questions regarding the complex that will have to be put off to another date, forcing an adjournment Wednesday night. The building is proposed for 101 West Water Street.

The project has already been the subject of minor litigation, with attorney Robert C. Shea having filed a motion in court forcing the hearing after the township’s building office deemed the application incomplete. Superior Court Judge Francis Hodgson disagreed, ordering the application be placed on the planning board’s agenda for consideration.

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Shea’s public notice on the application stated that the project, as proposed, met the specifications of the township’s redevelopment ordinance as well as its zoning ordinance covering the Village Business zone, in which the property is located. This would mean no variances or waivers would be required, and a simple site plan review by the board would suffice before a vote on approval.

A newly-appointed planner, however, can raise questions that a previous planner did not, forcing the applicant to respond. Much of the township’s building and planning staff was replaced, and its board reconstituted, after Mayor Dan Rodrick took office in January. Rodrick ran for mayor on a platform heavily aimed at stopping what he sees as the overdevelopment of the downtown area.

A new date for the hearing will be announced and confirmed in the future.