Apartments, 200 Townhouses and Commercial Space Proposed for Route 9 Near Cox Cro

A developer’s plan for a new commercial shopping center and residential community on undeveloped land north of Cox Cro Road on Route 9 northbound is before the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

Nobility Crest @ Dover, LLC presented plans for a 53,000 square-foot shopping center, two 25-unit apartment buildings and 200 townhouse units valued from $250,000 to $290,000, in a series of variances at the board’s meeting Jan. 13.

In its first meeting of the year, the board agreed to postpone the vote to build the new commercial shopping center and residential community until its next meeting, Jan. 27, after testimony stretched past 11 p.m.

The project was before the zoning board previously, when in 2009 officials asked the developer to enhance common public spaces through added bus stops and fenced-in drainage areas, among other requests.

Jan. 13, the developer returned, to propose the construction of a 53,580 square foot strip mall that also includes two 25-unit apartment buildings, to be built on a parcel of land located on Route 9 North of Cox Cro Road in Toms River. 

In a separate set of variances, the same plan is also seeking approval of 200 non-age restricted townhouse units to be erected on an adjacent lot.

Between the apartments and townhouses, the entire residential community would create a 588-bedroom community off of Route 9.

Nobility Crest @ Dover LLC who is represented by Joseph D. Coronato Esq., presented testimony to the board that consumed a majority of the allotted time for the meeting and, as a result, the board was forced to delay a vote for possible approval of the revised plans.  Coronato said he was not surprised the vote could not get done chalking it up to “business as usual” pertaining to the size and scope of the plan.

“It was going to take awhile for the board to look at it, to approve it… I don’t think it was unusual,” he said. 

Coronato presented testimony to the board in the form of expert witnesses and diagrams that Coronato said improved upon the original 2009 plan, to include the recommendations of the zoning board.  The plans now before the board include improvements of common area, open outdoor spaces; safety precautions that, among other items, argued for a potential fence around a drainage ditch; and garbage pickup and bus stop routes for the new area.

An especially prevalent concern the board had was with school children walking from the new development to school across the heavily trafficked intersection of Rt. 9 and Cox Cro Rd.  In addition to a new traffic light and pedestrian crosswalk, the institution of a crossing guard was also proposed.

“You’re not going to get an eight-year-old or seven-year-old to push that button wait for the light and know when to cross,” said board member Roden Lightbody.  “We need something that’s going to guarantee to hold them at the crossing.”

 “You knew that everybody is going to want to modify a plan,” Coronato said of the many recommendations the board requested of his client.  “Whenever you have a project of this sort it’s pretty common… you address as you go through it and my client feels they’re comfortable we can accommodate whatever [the board’s] concerns are.”

The Zoning Board used Douglas Klee, an engineer for Owen, Little & Associates Inc. and part of the zoning board’s pool of professionals, to examine the plans and report his opinion. Klee said he was satisfied from an engineering standpoint with how Coronato and his client adjusted their plan to fit many of the board’s recommendations.

Despite the no vote, Coronato is looking forward to January 27’s meeting and an opportunity to push the project forward.  He added that the commercial and residential buildings compliment the area well and provide necessary living space for affordable prices.

“I think it’s a good development, I think it’s a good application, I think it meets appropriate needs in the area,” he said.  “Hopefully the board will review the plans, we’ll make the modifications and we’ll get approved.”

The Zoning Board of Adjustment tabled the vote until its Jan. 27 meeting where it will hear the remainder of the testimony for the project.