Toms River Zoning: 2-Acre Proposal Shocked All, Councilwoman Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — A firestorm that erupted last week over possible Toms River zoning changes has led to lots of fingerpointing over who knew what and when they knew it, and what exactly was planned — and few clear answers on any of it.

It's also become fodder for the mayoral campaigns of Maurice "Mo" Hill and Jonathan Petro, who are vying to succeed Thomas Kelaher as mayor of Toms River.

At the center of the storm is rough draft of an ordinance proposal to reduce zoning on houses of worship in the North Dover section of the township from 10 acres to 2 acres. Except the ordinance, which was posted by the Petro campaign on Monday, may not be what it's purported to be.

Petro, the Democrat seeking election to the mayor's seat in November, posted the draft ordinance to his campaign website on Monday, a week after it was pulled from the agenda of the township council’s land use committee. He accused Hill, his Republican opponent, of attempting to keep the plans secret until after the election.

Councilwoman Laurie Huryk, who sits on the land use committee with Hill and Council President George Wittmann, said that characterization isn’t accurate.

"None of us (her, Wittmann or Hill) had seen the 2-acre (ordinance) proposal before it was put on the agenda," Huryk said Monday evening. "I didn’t even know it (the 2-acre provision) was in here" until reports emerged online after someone leaked the land use committee agenda. It caught all three council members off-guard, she said.

How it came about was nothing nefarious, Huryk said.

The township has had ongoing discussions with the federal Department of Justice about ensuring Toms River’s zoning laws do not conflict with the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act. The review of Toms River’s zoning was the result of the Justice Department probe after the Chabad Jewish Center filed suit against the township in 2016.

Minutes of the land use committee obtained through an open public records request back up Huryk’s statements.

The discussions about reducing the zoning for houses of worship dated back several months, the minutes show. At the Dec. 18, 2018, land use committee meeting, assistant township attorney Anthony Merlino and Marci A. Hamilton, an expert in land use law and RLUIPA hired to help the township adjust its zoning, brought up the change to the minimum lot size.

It was suggested then that the minimum lot size be reduced to 8 acres for a house of worship, and that they be added to the residential and rural residential zones as a conditional use. The committee agreed pending additional research.

In January, Merlino reported a review of the township’s existing parcels with houses of worship and other community gathering places found they averaged 5 to 6 acres. Though Hamilton suggested a minimum lot size of 6 acres, the committee felt that was too small and instead agreed on 7 acres, according to those minutes.

The February minutes say Merlino shared the final response from the township to the Justice Department with the committee and the preparations to amend the township’s ordinances and update the master plan to reflect the 7-acre minimum.

In each case, Huryk, Hill and Wittmann all were in attendance. The Land Use Committee meetings also include various township professionals, including business administrator Don Guardian; attorney Ken Fitzsimmons; township planner Dave Roberts; township engineer Bob Chankalian; assistant township engineer Wendy Birkhead, assistant planner Erika Stahl, Merlino; and Craig Ambrosio, director of buildings and grounds. The committee meetings also included representatives from the planning and zoning boards and Kelaher.

The decisions they reach on each item are a consensus, Huryk said. "We don’t move on if there is still dissention," she said. In the case of the 7 acres, Huryk said, the committee agreed the 7 acres for houses of worship would be something the township could defend in court.

Hill initially denied having any knowledge of the change from 10 acres to 7 acres, saying, "My colleagues and I on the Council approved the existing zoning regulations for Houses of Worship over the last 10 years and I think we got it right."

On Monday, Hill’s campaign adviser, Art Gallagher, issued a statement that pointed to an April adjustment to the township master plan that includes "the Planning Board's argument for reducing the acreage requirement for Houses of Worship as a Conditional Use in residential and rural residential zones from 10 acres to 7 acres."

"Nowhere in this addendum is there any mention of 2-acre zoning," Gallagher said.

Wittman told the Asbury Park Press that Huryk and Councilman Terrance Turnbach met with Hamilton, Guardian, Scott Gartner, and two members of the Toms River Jewish Community Council in May, and questioned what was discussed. Gartner is leading an effort to build a synagogue in the North Dover section.

Huryk said the meeting was a listening session, nothing more.

"We heard them out," she said. Part of the discussion focused on ways to prevent private homes from being turned into shuls, Huryk said, and from there, Hamilton, Merlino and Roberts were tasked with looking into what was feasible within the township’s ordinances.

In August, Merlino reminded Hill, Huryk and Wittmann that the council needed to move forward with making zoning changes to adhere to federal law, and they agreed it would be discussed at the September meeting.

That is, until the draft with the 2-acre zoning appeared and the matter was yanked from the agenda by Wittmann.

Huryk said the draft was the earliest stages and nowhere near ready for council consideration.

"We were going to be discussing it for the first time," she said, adding that the initial language was very, very restrictive, including clauses limiting impervious coverage to 20 percent of a parcel.
She said the goal is to find solutions that give the township a say over its zoning.

"We can work with the Department of Justice and have control over our zoning, or have them tell us what we can do," Huryk said. "Do we want to keep a seat at the table?"

“I'd rather be able to control our own zoning,” Huryk said.

She was annoyed by the statements of Wittmann and Hill.

“They know how this (the land use committee) works. This was the first pass. It’s just an open discussion,” she said. “If there’s disagreement, we don’t move forward.”
“I certainly couldn’t move the conversation along by myself,” Huryk said.

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