Toms River, NJ loses court battle and must build 670 new homes

🔴 Retired judge sides with builders against Toms River

🔴 Shore town must build hundreds of units over the next decade

🔴 Mayor said previously that Toms River doesn't have enough space

TOMS RIVER — The second-largest shore town in Ocean County must build hundreds of housing units despite local officials insisting that they don't have room for so many new homes.

Retired Judge Julio L. Mendez ruled against Toms River and said the township must build all 670 housing units required by its prospective need under its fourth round of affordable housing obligations, the Asbury Park Press first reported.

Prospective need refers to the housing that must be built over the next 10 years.

The requirement of 670 housing units for Toms River was handed down by the state Department of Community Affairs last year.

However, township officials had argued Toms River's prospective need was only 114 units based on land capacity. Court documents said it was the largest difference that any township had proposed.

Not enough space in Toms River

Mayor Dan Rodrick has previously said Toms River, which already has 36,291 households, doesn't have enough space for new mass development.

He felt the number of required housing units could only go lower during the court battle, Rodrick said to the Asbury Park Press last month.

New Jersey 101.5 has reached out to Rodrick for comment on the recent decision.

Problems in calculating housing need

In his decision, Mendez wrote that the calculations Toms River used to reach its lower number were "very problematic."

Mendez, who used the supporting report of a special adjudicator, ruled to uphold the DCA's original number of 670 housing units.

The retired judge has the authority to make the decision through the state's Affordable Housing Dispute Resolution Program.

RELATED: Fury in NJ as state forces affordable housing construction

Last month, the Toms River township council voted unanimously to withdraw from the program.

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