Golf, Pickleball, Shooting Range Proposed For Long-Vacant Former Boston's In Toms River

TOMS RIVER, NJ — It's been 10 years since the owners of Boston's closed the restaurant and sports bar on Fischer Boulevard abruptly, leaving behind an empty building.

Aside from the Toms River Golf Center, the driving range at the property on the corner of Hooper Avenue and Fischer Boulevard, little remains but a weed-riddled parking lot.

All of that could change soon. The Toms River Planning Board is scheduled to hear a proposal to turn the site into a large recreational facility offering batting cages, pickleball courts, virtual golf and an indoor shooting range.

The project is set to be heard when the planning board meets at 6 p.m. on Oct. 16 on the second floor of Town Hall, 33 Washington St., according to a public notice of the hearing.

The developer of the project is 1675 Hooper Avenue LLC.

The proposed project would keep the existing buildings, including the restaurant, the two-story golf range and a one-story gym facility.

The golf range and its two-story building would be restored and the second floor enclosed to install a bar/lounge with virtual golf, shuffleboard, pool tables and arcade games.

The gym facility would be converted to space for an office, storage, maintenance and retail.

The 5,195-square-foot restaurant would be renovated and would get a 20,594-square-foot addition for an indoor shooting range and retail floor area.

The proposal would add a 14,850-square-foot building to house batting cages and pickleball courts.

The proposed site plan needs several variances for setbacks, some of which are for conditions that exist on the site already, including the distance from the front of the restaurant to the street and from the front of the golf range to the street, and for the number and size of signs.

A variance also is needed for the parking, with 240 spaces proposed and 252 spaces required under land use rules.

Variances are required for the front setbacks for the shooting range, 62.2 feet proposed where 100 feet is required, and for the pickleball court and batting cages, 84.1 feet proposed where 100 feet is required.

Also sought is a variance for the minimum residential buffer; 20 feet is required but the proposal is for zero feet.

The plans for the proposed facility are available at the Toms River Township Clerk's office.

Note: This article has been updated to reflect that the Toms River Golf Center remains open at the property. Patch regrets the error.