TOMS RIVER, NJ – With a ten-story twin tower already in the pre-development phase of construction, Toms River Mayor Maurice “Mo” Hill is seeking to build another hi-rise apartment building here. In 2019, Hill announced plans to move the Toms River branch of the United States Post Office from its current downtown location on Water Street to the area near the Ocean County Mall, where the Veterans Administration will be building a new shore-based clinic.
The post office, under that plan, would relocate to the Hooper-Caudina Redevelopment Project, which plans for a 60,000 square foot VA clinic, a 3-bay fire station, a 20,000 square foot post office, and about one hundred or so high-density multi-family residential housing units. Toms River Fire Co. No.2 would relocate to the new firehouse.
Rendering of the Hooper-Caudina redevelopment project plan by the administration of Toms River Mayor Maurice Hill.
The move would put the post office in a more centrally located part of the town and free up the existing site for more hi-density, hi-rise apartments downtown, part of Mayor Hill’s downtown redevelopment plan.
Under an ordinance approved by Hill and his council allies in 2018, taller buildings are now allowed to be built downtown.
“Moving the post office could help jumpstart downtown development,” Hill said in an interview with the Asbury Park Press. “We’re looking at the high-rise, maybe an eight-story apartment complex, townhouses and apartments over commercial buildings downtown.”
Now, development has become a focus of the 2023 Toms River GOP Mayoral primary that pits Hill against anti-development Republican Daniel Rodrick. Instead of high-density apartments and hi-rises, Rodrick said he would like to see the township attract businesses in the downtown area to bring people in. The downtown area currently relies on weekend events such as festivals and dining out events that lure visitors to the small village.
Rodrick has taken the “If you build it, they will come” approach to allow business, restaurants, and bars to establish themselves downtown, which will bring tourism, such as the model used in Downtown Freehold, which boasts a vibrant restaurant scene seven days a week. Like Toms River, Freehold is a county seat.
Hill, on the other hand, believes you have to build the hi-rises apartments and condos to flood the downtown area with people, then businesses will come to service the larger population.
A core development plan published by Hill on the township website shows that most open spaces and parking lots in the downtown area will be replaced with apartment buildings and townhomes, some with shops on the first floor, many as high as six to eight stories.
Hill’s plan calls for a row of apartment buildings stretching from Main Street to the municipal parking garage on the North Side of Water Street, where two parking lots currently exist. Also, according to Hill’s plan the building that houses Uncle Dood’s Donuts, a popular donut shop downtown, will be raised and replaced with five-story apartment buildings.
In 2019, the U.S. Postal Service said it wasn’t ready to move just yet, confirming Hill’s administration has reached out to them regarding the desire to relocate the post office.
“We can confirm that we have been contacted and have had some discussions about the redevelopment project. However, no decision or commitment has been made regarding the Toms River postal facility at this time,” said Ray V. Daiutolo Sr., APR USPS Corporate Communications South Jersey & Philadelphia Districts.