The Toms River Planning Board voted by a count of 6-2 to approve Cox Cro Crossing, an application that proposed the construction of two apartment buildings and two retail-office buildings.
The board’s approval followed the conclusion of a public hearing on Dec. 5. Board members David Ciccozzi, Robert Stone, Paul Wnek, Todd Luttman, John Solly and Jack Reuther voted “yes” on a motion to approve the application. Board members Anne Hammill-Pasqua and Township Councilwoman Laurie Huryk voted “no.”
Hammill-Pasqua and Huryk said they voted no because the project was planned on the 10.28 acre property when 20 acres is what the project really required.
“I decided to vote no because I felt that the ‘planned unit development’ variance of almost 50 percent without an existing non-conformity was more than a request for a variance, but a disregard for the code. I have to trust that the previous Township Council that enacted the code requiring 20 acres for a (PUD) did so at the advice of their experts and with good reason. I appreciate that the applicant went to great effort to eliminate or greatly reduce the impact of other variances, but that effort did not negate the fact that the applicant only had 51.4 percent of the total area required to build a (PUD),” Huryk said.
According to testimony presented to the board, Cox Cro Crossing will consist of two three-story residential buildings with a total of 42 apartments. Of that total, nine apartments will be designated as affordable housing units and 33 apartments will be designated as market rate units.
Affordable housing is defined as housing that is sold or rented at below market rates to individuals and families whose income meets.
The apartments will consist of 30 two-bedrooms, 10 one-bedrooms and two three-bedrooms. They are not age restricted and are all rental apartments.
The project also includes two buildings with retail space on the first floor and office space on the second floor.
The development will be built on a vacant 10-acre property near the intersection of Route 9 and Cox Cro Road.
The application had more than 25 variances requested. A total of six variances were granted by the planning board.
At the hearing, some residents expressed concern with the project being on Route 9, which they said already has traffic problems.
The Planning Board is not permitted to discuss the evidence among themselves.
“We are permitted to make comments into the record after the public comments but before the vote, and some board members chose to do so,” Huryk said.
The Planning Board must approve a resolution memorializing the approval.
“After the resolution is adopted the applicant must comply with all requirements of the resolution. Once they have completed resolution compliance, the applicant can then seek Zoning Permit approval,” Assistant Township Planner Erika Stahl said.
The next Planning Board meeting will be on Dec. 19 in the L. Manuel Hirshblond meeting room.
The Cox Cro Crossing development project has had several modified versions to the original proposal over the years.
“The application was initially submitted on August 12, 2016 (over two years ago),” Stahl said.