Toms River Planning $1.95M Land Purchase Of Clifton Avenue Property

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The Toms River Township Council is scheduled to vote Sept. 26 on an ordinance to purchase a pair of properties on Clifton Avenue and Batchelor Street.

The purchase, however, is not being made with open space funds, said Art Gallagher, a township spokesman. An ordinance introduced at the same time as the ordinance for the purchase would bond for $2.1 million for the purchase and related costs.

The plan for the parcels after the purchase is uncertain, Gallagher said. A park is a possibility, but nothing is settled.

The two properties — at 554 Clifton Ave. and 525 Batchelor St. — are owned by the same family, with the .31-acre Batchelor Street site nestled into the 4-acre Clifton Avenue parcel.

Ocean County land records show the parcel was first purchased by the family in 1939 and passed down to the current owner. The Batchelor Street parcel was subdivided from the main piece in 1971; a site plan on file recording the subdivision shows the property had chicken coops on it for a number of years.

The property currently has two homes — one on each parcel — and trees along the portions of the property that abut neighboring subdivisions.

The township became interested in the property after Council President Matthew Lotano saw a "for sale" sign on the property and asked the township's professionals to look into the possibility of purchasing it, Gallagher said. A settlement notice was filed in late August.