Toms River Zoning Issues Will Wait For New Council, Wittmann Says

TOMS RIVER, NJ — There will be no more discussions of zoning changes for houses of worship by the Toms River Township Council until new council members are sworn into office in January.

That was the decision announced by Council President George Wittmann on Tuesday following more than a week's worth of claims and counterclaims about the origin of a draft ordinance that suggested reducing the zoning from 10 acres to 7 acres and setting up a 2-acre minimum size for "small-site places of worship."

"This issue will not appear on the land use committee for the rest of the year," Wittmann said as he wrapped up his council comments. "I'm opposed to any changes and I suggest whoever is elected can take it up next year." Wittman and councilman Brian Kubiel are not seeking re-election; councilman Maurice "Mo" Hill is running for mayor instead of seeking re-election to his council seat, so three council seats will have new faces come January.

Wittmann's announcement clearly was aimed at stopping the back-and-forth debate through social media and news reports over the origins of the draft ordinance, which was first leaked online Sept. 15, after Wittmann pulled it from the Sept. 17 land use committee meeting agenda.

The township's land use committee has been looking at changes to the township's zoning in the wake of a probe by the federal Department of Justice into the town's ordinances. Ongoing discussions with the Justice Department have been aimed at ensuring Toms River's zoning laws do not conflict with the federal Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, under which the township was sued by the Chabad Jewish Center in 2016 over an application that had been before the Board of Adjustment.

The leak of the meeting's agenda led to accusations that Council Vice President Maurice "Mo" Hill had made a deal with the Orthodox Jewish community to change the zoning.

Hill, the Republican candidate for mayor, sits on the land use committee with Wittmann and Councilwoman Laurie Huryk. He repeatedly has been accused of being unduly influenced by the Orthodox community, in part because of his friendship with Scott Gartner, a prominent member of the Orthodox community. Gartner is one of Hill's neighbors.

Since Sept. 15, accusations have been leveled back and forth between Hill and Wittmann and Huryk, with Hill and Wittmann saying Huryk was part of a deal made with the Orthodox Jewish community for the 2-acre zoning. Huryk, meanwhile, has said Hill and Wittmann knew about the proposal to lower the minimum lot size to 7 acres and that it had been discussed for months.

Hill said he was surprised only at the ordinance being put on the agenda, not the 7-acre proposal.

On Monday, Huryk told Patch that none of the three council members — herself, Wittmann and Hill — knew that the 2-acre proposal was going to be in the draft ordinance until they received the Sept. 17 agenda.

On Tuesday morning, Wittmann and Hill said Huryk was "being untruthful," and re-emphasized their belief that Huryk and councilman Terrance Turnbach had made agreements with members of the Jewish community the small-site zoning during a May meeting with township professionals and members of the Jewish community, a charge they denied and continued to deny on Tuesday night. Hill grilled Huryk on whether she had read a copy of an ordinance from Rockland County, New York, that addressed similar concerns. Huryk said she had not.

"The Orthodox presented what their needs were to our professionals," Huryk said. "We did not request anything, we did not contribute to the conversation."

"It was for our professionals to go to their desks and come up with an idea," she said.

Gartner, during public comment, said he was part of the May meeting, and while not going into detail, said the discussion centered on the needs of the Orthodox community while also trying to balance those with the need to maintain the quality of life for non-Orthodox Toms River residents.

"I was in it. I know what was said," Gartner said.

But he addressed the current of antisemitism that has become part of the election campaign again this year.

"I don't like the fear-mongering in this community," Gartner said. "I don't like the ignorance. ... We want the same quality of life that you have and we want to preserve the way of life," he said.

Gartner said rumors that he paid off Hill to influence his vote are lies. "He never asked me for a favor and I never offered him any money," Gartner said, adding that he'd take a lie detector test.

Wittmann, in declaring the zoning discussion dead for the remainder of the year, said he is against changing the zoning when there has been no response from the Justice Department to the township's reports.

His decision to kill further discussion of the zoning changes this year could pose problems for the township if the Justice Department sees it as failing to follow through in good faith efforts to address its concerns, Turnbach said.

"I understand this is a hotbed issue," Turnbach said. "When we come 9 months later and begin to say we're not going to do (what the report to the Justice Department said the town planned regarding the zoning)," it appears to be a misrepresentation to the Justice Department, he said.

"We have a choice to stay at the table and negotiate, retaining our authority to make decisions for our town, or we can defy the Department of Justice and lose our autonomy," Huryk said. "I want to stay at the table."

"We can't be negotiating against ourselves," Hill said in an emailed statement. "I would never vote to change the 10-acre zoning to 7 acres unless the Justice Department said that was satisfactory. I am not going to change the zoning to 7 acres and then have the DOJ come back and say you need to make it even lower. I think we got it right with 10 acres, but if making it 7 acres would prevent a lengthy and expensive court battle, the entire council would consider it, but not without legally binding assurances from the Attorney General. Two acres goes too far. If the DOJ insists upon that, let's go to court and let a judge decide after we make our arguments."

One effect of the controversy has been to undermine what had been a working relationship between the Democrats — Huryk and Turnbach — and the Republicans — Hill, Wittmann, and Kubiel, Maria Maruca and with Daniel Rodrick.

Rodrick, who was elected to the council as a Democrat, lost in the Republican primary to Hill and was censured by the rest of the council in June over campaign flyers during the primary. The censure, for "bigoted conduct," called for Rodrick to resign his seat, the Asbury Park Press reported. In calling for Rodrick's resignation, the council cited the "Toms River Tribune" campaign literature that looked like a newspaper and highlighted a photo of Hill with Gartner, implying that Hill was unduly influenced by the Orthodox community, the report said. Rodrick told the Asbury Park Press the censure was politically motivated and said, "I've never written anything bigoted or said anything bigoted."

Hill on Tuesday night blamed Huryk and the Democrats, calling it political sabotage on behalf of Jonathan Petro, the Democrat opposing Hill in the mayoral race. Petro, who published the August land use committee minutes and the draft ordinance on his campaign website, has accused Hill of trying to delay a vote on a zoning change until after the election.

Wittmann echoed the sentiment that Hill was being attacked unfairly. "I think this is despicable," he said, saying Hill was being attacked by people looking to "save their jobs and hedge their bets," though he didn't indicate to whom he was referring. He said by blocking further discussion of the zoning change, "no one is accused of having a secret plan to change it after the election."

Note: This article has been updated to clarify Hill's statements on the presentation of the ordinance.

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