Toms River planning board denies new five story downtown apartment building

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TOMS RIVER, N.J. — A second large apartment complex planned for Downtown Toms River was rejected last night by the planning board due to the impact the non-conforming project would pose to the community and the variances required to build it.

Instead, that project must go through the township’s zoning board to move forward. The application did not conform to the zoning of the downtown district, which limits structures to just four stories.

A previously planned 10-story tower got initial approval under a downtown redevelopment plan created by former Mayor Mo Hill. Still, that plan has since been rescinded, meaning all future non-conforming buildings must once again go to the proper land use board.

The Toms River planning board has denied a proposal to build a 64-unit apartment complex with ground-floor retail space in the downtown area, citing safety, zoning, and traffic concerns. The project, proposed by Lakewood-based Waterfront Development Partners, LLC, aimed to redevelop a site at 101 West Water Street but faced opposition from local officials and residents worried about its impact on the historic downtown.

The five-story design included 64 apartments—15 one-bedroom, 41 two-bedroom, and eight three-bedroom units—with 2,560 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and parking with an average of 1.4 spaces per unit. This configuration, however, conflicted with the zoning rules for the Village Business (VB) district, which caps building height at four stories and requires full retail occupancy on the first floor. Board members raised concerns about how the project would affect traffic flow and pedestrian safety in the already-busy downtown.