Environmental, Planning Testimony Expected in Thursday Pleasant Plains Apartment Complex Hearing

The months-long hearing for a proposed 252-unit Pleasant Plains apartment complex continues Thursday night with more expert testimony. 

The most recent hearing for the complex, which is proposed for the southeast corner of Route 9 and Whitty Road near Wallach's Farm Market and Deli, was held in June. No action has been taken on the plan yet, as environmental and planning experts are expected to give testimony Thursday at the board's 7:30 p.m. meeting in town hall.

Last month, some residents living near the proposed site expressed concerns that the complex could bring additional to an already congested section of Route 9 in Toms River. Residents and board members requested that a Dugan Lane access point to the site should be closed.

The plans for the complex calls for 12 buildings with 21 units each, and 20 percent will be affordable housing as required by the state, the applicant has said. A variance for the complex is required because the area's zoning requires that developments include half residential and half commercial use.

Applicant attorney John Paul Doyle has said that, with several shopping plazas already nearby, there is no need for the commercial aspect at this location.

"We think there is a proven need for housing in the way we want to build," he said when the application was initially introduced.

Aside from the zoning variance, the complex complies with the township ordinance for a development of this type, according to the applicant. The plan is to leave 30 percent forested land on the property untouched and add 600 new trees.

"There is a need for good, quality apartments like this applicant wants to build," Doyle has said.

Doyle has said that, if the applicant developed the property with 50 percent commercial and 50 percent residential, traffic likely would be worse than with the proposed 100 percent residential complex.

"The access isn't that good and commercial use on this site would generate a lot more traffic than a residential use,"  project engineer Robert Romano said in May.

The site could accommodate up to an 80,000 square foot big box store, but several corporations that once considered developing there have abandoned plans because of the site's shortcomings.

"There's no demand for space on that highway as it is," said applicant witness and real estate appraiser Anthony Graziano during May testimony.

Graziano said that, based on apartment rental data in Ocean County, Toms River is in need of a complex like the one proposed.

"This whole market is dominated by single-family housing," he said. "There's clearly a need for multifamily housing and the population is growing."

The proposal first came before zoning board members in April, but a public notice error halted that meeting and forced the applicant to present their initial witnesses for a second time in May.