TOMS RIVER – A final vote to repeal the ambitious plan to redevelop Toms River’s downtown is likely at the Township Council meeting Dec. 18, after the planning board agreed that discarding the proposal is in keeping with the master plan.
“I’m very pleased,” said Mayor Daniel Rodrick, who sits on the planning board and has long championed discarding the redevelopment plan. “I am pleased to hear that the planner determined that repealing the redevelopment plan is consistent with the master plan.”
The planner Rodrick referred to is Christine Winter, of ARH Associates, one of several planning professionals the township can call on when needed.
The board voted 6 to 1 to send the ordinance repealing the redevelopment back to the council, after finding that it did comport with the township’s master plan. Two members abstained, and Paul DiGregorio voted against the repeal.
Main Street in downtown Toms River is shown in this flattened 360 degree image Thursday, February 8, 2018.
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Toms River has not had a full-time planner since Robert Hudak, who served under the administration of former Mayor Maurice B. “Mo” Hill Jr. Before Hudak, planner Dave Roberts crafted the redevelopment plan for downtown.
An October council vote to repeal the redevelopment plan led to to perhaps the most contentious meeting in what has been a year filled with rowdy sessions. Rodrick and Councilman Thomas Nivison exchanged barbs after Nivison voted against the repeal, saying he needed more time to review the lengthy planning documents.
The council vote was 4 to 3, and Nivison’s vote led Rodrick to call him a “con man,” who had run on an anti-development platform with the mayor in 2023, but then voted against the repeal. Nivison responded that Rodrick was a liar, and called his council allies puppets.
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Rodrick and his four running mates won election last year in part because they pledged to end “overdevelopment” in the township, and keep the township from becoming a “city.”
The vote was a major step in undoing the plan to redevelop downtown, which had been promoted by Hill’s administration as the best hope to revitalize a downtown area that has been underutilized for decades.
Many residents objected to the first development approved under the plan — two six-story apartment towers, with 281 apartments, slated to be built at Main and Water streets.
Capodagli Property Co. wants to build two apartment buildings on land formerly occupied by the Red Carpet Motel at Main and Water streets in downtown Toms River. The units will contain 281 apartments and about 14,800 square feet of retail space.
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Opposition to the apartment towers helped Rodrick and his team to handily win last year’s election for mayor and three council seats. The township is in litigation with the developer, Capodagli, after Rodrick’s administration revoked Capodagli’s redevelopment agreement earlier this year.
The council is likely to vote in December to repeal redevelopment plans for the waterfront area, the downtown core and the Robbins Parkway areas, by the River Lady paddlewheel riverboat. Earlier this year, Rodrick’s administration rejected a $5.66 million federal grant that was intended to improve traffic flow and mitigate downtown flooding. The mayor said the grant was intended to provide the infrastructure for hundreds of residential units, which residents have made clear they do not want downtown.
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The township will likely have to repay several hundred thousand dollars in funds that were spent on engineering and other work on the project.
Bob Shea, chairman of the board of the Toms River Business Improvement District, has said the organization plans to fight the repeal of the redevelopment plan, which some business leaders believe could discourage any kind of commercial development in the downtown.
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Rodrick said he hopes that Nivison will change his mind and vote in favor of repeal.
“I’m hoping that Tom Nivison sticks to his word,” the mayor said. “He had promised the people of Toms River that he would vote to repeal the redevelopment plan, but seemed to waver at the last meeting. … I am hoping he changes course on that and delivers on his promise.”
Nivison has been at odds with Rodrick since he objected to the mayor’s plan to have Ocean County take over Toms RIver’s animal shelter. The shelter has been closed since early June, and Nivison endorsed Democrat Zach Dougherty’s unsuccessful campaign for a township council position this year against Bill Byrne, a Rodrick ally who easily won the election for Rodrick’s old Ward 2 seat.
The mayor said he is interested in crafting a plan to lure more businesses to the downtown. Hill, Roberts and some business leaders had argued that businesses were unlikely to open in the area unless more people live there.
Jean Mikle covers Toms River and several other Ocean County towns, and has been writing about local government and politics for many years. She’s also passionate about the Shore’s storied music scene. Contact her: @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Downtown Toms River development plan poised to be repealed by council