Toms River Seeks Extension On Affordable Housing Plan Action

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Toms River has requested an extension on finalizing its affordable housing plan after a Township Council meeting that left the town's plan in limbo.

In a letter submitted about 8 p.m. on March 12, Christopher Zingaro, the township's affordable housing attorney, asked Superior Court Judge Sean D. Gertner for an extension of immunity from builder's remedy lawsuits while it finalizes the plan.

It was an extension raised as a possibility by Gertner six days earlier during a case management conference, the letter said, because of the withdrawal of the Hope's Crossing developer from an agreement to extend deed restrictions.

"At the Case Management Conference, the Court identified, sua sponte, that it had been considering the issuance of an order extending immunity beyond the upcoming March 15, 2026 deadline. It is the undersigned’s recollection that no party indicated its intent to oppose such relief," Zingaro wrote, referencing the March 6 conference. "In light of the Court’s stated consideration of that issue, the absence of any opposition, and the imminence of the March 15, 2026 deadline, the Township respectfully requests the issuance of such an order prior to that date." (The full letter is at the bottom of this article.)

At the March 11 Township Council meeting, Zingaro told Council President David Ciccozzi and Vice President Tom Nivison that Gertner had repeatedly rejected extension requests and, as such, was unlikely to grant one to Toms River in spite of the fact that Hope's Crossing had pulled out of the settlement agreement.

It's unclear when the Hope's Crossing developer withdrew from the agreement to extend deed restrictions on its apartments for another 30 years; they were still part of the settlement in the mediation agreement filed on Jan. 5 by the state's affordable housing program.

To fill the hole it created in the settlement, Mayor Daniel Rodrick sought to change the zoning on two lots on Route 9 that the township purchased several years ago. In the letter they are referenced as Block 171, lots 23 and 42; they are 1980 Lakewood Road (Route 9) and 1976 Lakewood Road.

Toms River purchased the two lots from Ocean County in 2019, the larger one for $1.25 million and the smaller one for more than $384,000. (The county had purchased the larger lot from Boynton Transport Corp., and the smaller one from Maria Miranda.)

Toms River had bonded for nearly $10 million for open space purchases in 2016; Rodrick, who at the time was running for township council, opposed using taxpayer money for the purchases, an Asbury Park Press report said.

The proposed ordinance would have converted those lots to M-16 zoning, which allows 16 units of multifamily housing per acre, with the provision that a development there be 100 percent affordable housing. Councilmen Harry Aber and Craig Coleman, along with Councilwoman Lynn O'Toole, voted in favor; Ciccozzi and Councilmen Robert Bianchini and Clinton Bradley voted against, and Nivison abstained on the ordinance. Read more: Toms River Affordable Housing Plan In Limbo After Chaotic Council Meeting

The council also stalemated on an ordinance that covered the bulk of the affordable housing settlement zoning, including converting properties near the Lake Ridge age-restricted development to multifamily housing. That vote was 3 in favor, 2 against and 2 abstentions, with Aber, Coleman and O'Toole voting yes, Ciccozzi and Bradley voting no and Nivison and Bianchini abstaining.

In the immediate aftermath of the March 11 council meeting, Rodrick sent statements to reporters and to township residents, accusing the council members who declined to approve the ordinances of wanting the town to add 8,000 units of housing and insisting that builder's remedy lawsuits were going to be filed immediately.

As of 2 p.m. on March 23, Gertner had not ruled on the extension request, and no builder's remedy lawsuits — which developers file seeking approval for projects involving affordable housing from the state, with little input from the town — had been filed.