The location of a proposed development application in downtown Toms River, April 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)
A proposal to build a five-story, 64-unit mixed-use complex of residential and commercial space in downtown Toms River will be presented to the township’s planning board Wednesday night.
The building would be located at 101 West Water Street, within the Village Business zone, where such a project is ostensibly allowed under the zoning code. The site is currently improved with an asphalt public parking lot.
The applicant, Waterfront Development Partners, LLC, based in Lakewood and led by developer Mark Tress, is seeking approval for construction of a mixed-use building consisting of 64 residential apartment units on the second floor through the fifth floor, including 15 one-bedroom, 40 two-bedroom, and 9 three-bedroom units.
A 64-unit mixed-use complex proposed for downtown Toms River, April 2024. (Photo: Planning Document)
The location of a proposed development application in downtown Toms River, April 2024. (Photo: Shorebeat)
The first floor is proposed to consist of 2,560 square feet of retail space, a lobby area, a mail room, a mechanical room, trash area, an area designated for bicycles, and 85 indoor-outdoor parking stalls. Access to the building would be by way of a full access drive from West Water Street.
The developer is being represented by local attorney Robert C. Shea, who has also represented other downtown redevelopers, including the Capodagli Group that has been approved to build a major mixed-use complex along the Toms River.
In this case, the developer “has not proposed any variances or design waivers,” a public notice on the meeting said.
The proposal, seemingly lacking any major legal avenues to justify a denial, will also serve as the first major test of a planning board that has been largely reconstituted with new appointees under Mayor Dan Rodrick, who ran for office on a platform of stemming what he saw as overdevelopment of the downtown district. The project has already led to nominal litigation, with 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.
The meeting begins at 6 p.m. in the council chambers of the township’s municipal complex at 33 Washington Street.
