A Superior Court judge ruled the township improperly denied a variance request tied to a property owned by Naomi Elkins and a co-owner.
Brick Township, NJ – A Superior Court judge has overturned a Brick Township Zoning Board decision denying a variance application tied to property owned by Naomi Elkins, the Lakewood woman who was later found not guilty by reason of insanity in the deaths of her two young daughters.
Judge Francis Hodgson ruled that the zoning board’s February 2025 denial of the application was “arbitrary, capricious and unreasonable,” ordering the decision reversed in a ruling issued from the bench.
Key Points
• Judge overturns Brick Zoning Board denial of variance for undersized lot
• Property owned by Naomi Elkins, later involved in high-profile child killing case
• Court says board improperly rejected the application
Brick officials had rejected the application submitted by Esther Cohen and Naomi Elkins, co-owners of a triangular parcel where Illinois Avenue, New Jersey Avenue, and Pennsylvania Avenue meet in the Herbertsville section of the township.
The property, located between Lanes Mill Road and Sally Ike Road, does not currently have a postal address. The applicants sought approval to build a single-family home that would front both Illinois and Pennsylvania avenues.
Variance needed for undersized lot
The lot measures about 4,812 square feet, significantly smaller than the township’s zoning requirement of 9,000 square feet for a corner property in the R-7.5 residential zone.
Because of the size deficiency, the applicants needed variance relief from the zoning board in order to construct the home.
The board ultimately rejected the proposal in February 2025, prompting the owners to file a lawsuit challenging the decision.
Lawsuit claimed board bowed to public pressure
In their court filings, the applicants argued the zoning board improperly allowed public sentiment to influence its decision.
The lawsuit claimed the board “caved to public opinion” related to the ultra-Orthodox Jewish background of the developers.
Judge Hodgson sided with the applicants, ruling that the board’s denial did not meet the legal standard required for rejecting a variance request.
Connection to Lakewood homicide case
The case has drawn additional attention because Naomi Elkins later became the focus of a high-profile criminal case in Ocean County.
Elkins, a Lakewood mother, was arrested in June 2024 after authorities said she killed her two young daughters at her home. During the subsequent trial, psychiatric experts testified she was suffering from severe psychosis and religious delusions.
Earlier this year, an Ocean County Superior Court judge found Elkins not guilty by reason of insanity. She was ordered committed to a state psychiatric facility, where she remains under ongoing evaluation.
The zoning case itself concerns only the property ownership and the variance request for the Brick Township lot.
