The Toms River Township Council approved zoning ordinances on March 11, 2026 that create five new affordable housing overlay zones across the township, according to the official council meeting minutes. The ordinances implement the township’s Fourth Round Housing Element and Fair Share Plan, which requires Toms River to provide 649 affordable housing units through 2035.

The day before, on March 10, the Toms River Planning Board adopted the Amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan as part of the township’s Master Plan, according to a public notice posted by the Planning Board.

What an overlay zone is

An overlay zone is an additional layer of zoning rules placed on top of an area’s existing zoning. It does not replace the current zoning — property owners can still use their land under the existing rules. But the overlay allows specific new types of development, in this case affordable housing, as an additional option within the designated area.

The overlay zones

The council’s ordinances designate five areas for affordable housing development. Four were created in a single ordinance:

HB-MF at 2008 Route 37 (Block 796, Lot 3): This overlay zone would generate 4 affordable units through a mixed-use inclusionary development. Inclusionary development means a project that includes market-rate units alongside a required percentage of affordable units.

EMF-23 at Jamestowne Village Apartments (Block 610, multiple lots): This zone would produce 42 affordable units through a combination of new construction and converting existing market-rate apartments to affordable units, according to the council minutes.

MF-18 near Route 70 (multiple blocks): This is the largest of the four overlay zones. It would generate 134 affordable units through inclusionary multifamily development.

Hooper-Claudina Redevelopment Area amendment: This modifies an existing redevelopment area to increase the allowed density from 10 units per acre to 18 units per acre. The increased density would generate 6 additional affordable units.

Together, these four overlay zones account for 186 affordable units toward the township’s total obligation of 649 units through 2035.

Fifth overlay zone: MF-16 on Lakewood Road

In a separate ordinance at the same meeting, the council also designated properties on Block 171 along Lakewood Road near Route 9 as an affordable housing overlay zone with MF-16 Multifamily zoning. Two parcels within the zone — Block 171, Lots 23 and 42 — are required to have a 100% affordable set-aside, meaning every unit built on those lots must be affordable.

This ordinance also passed with a split vote: 3 yes (Coleman, Aber, O’Toole), 3 no (Bradley, Nivison, Ciccozzi), and 1 abstention (Bianchini), according to the minutes.

Why this happened

The ordinances follow a December 2025 Settlement Agreement between Toms River and Fair Share Housing Center, a nonprofit that advocates for affordable housing in New Jersey. Under New Jersey’s Mount Laurel doctrine — a series of court rulings dating to 1975 — every municipality must provide a realistic opportunity for affordable housing. The state’s Fourth Round rules, which took effect in 2025, set each town’s specific obligation.

The settlement process included a March 15, 2026 deadline for the township to adopt the implementing ordinances. As previously reported, the March 11 council meeting produced disputed vote results on some of the housing ordinances, raising questions about whether the deadline would be met. Court records showed that the presiding judge was already considering extending the township’s legal protections before the disputed votes occurred.

The official minutes now record the zoning ordinances as approved at the March 11 meeting, resolving the question of whether the deadlocked votes constituted passage.

What happens next

The ordinances create the legal framework for affordable housing development at the four designated sites, but they do not authorize any specific construction projects. Developers would still need to go through the township’s standard site plan approval process before any building could begin.

The court case (OCN-L-000331-25) remains active. The township’s affordable housing attorney has asked the court to schedule a Fairness and Compliance Hearing, which would be the final step toward receiving a court-issued Compliance Certificate confirming the township has met its obligation.

The Amended Housing Element and Fair Share Plan is available for public inspection at the Municipal Clerk’s office at 33 Washington Street during regular business hours.

This article is based on official council meeting minutes and Planning Board records. Updated 2026-04-07 to include the fifth overlay zone (MF-16 on Lakewood Road), which was adopted in a separate ordinance at the same meeting. The March 11 meeting also produced a no-confidence resolution against the mayor in a 4-3 vote along the same factional lines. This article will be updated when the court schedules a Fairness and Compliance Hearing or issues additional orders.