TOMS RIVER – Tensions ran high on May 22 as the Toms River Zoning Board of Adjustment announced it would delay its decision on a controversial proposal to add a 17-bed homeless shelter at Christ Episcopal Church. After more than two hours of emotional public comment, the board adjourned the meeting without a vote, prompting audible sighs of frustration from residents.
The board will resume the hearing on June 12 at 6:30 pm, where attorneys will present closing arguments, and the board’s professional planner will provide expert testimony. Two residents previously represented by legal counsel will also offer closing arguments on their own behalf. Public comments have been officially closed.
Christ Episcopal Church is seeking a D-1 variance and preliminary and final major site plan approval to construct a 949-square-foot addition connected to the existing outreach office of Church of Christ. The plan would allow up to 17 individuals to stay overnight from 5 p.m. to 7 a.m., providing what proponents call a critical lifeline for Ocean County’s unhoused population.
D-1 variances require applicants to meet both “positive” and “negative” criteria. Because the use involves a religious institution offering social services, it may be considered “inherently beneficial.” Still, the applicant must prove the shelter would not harm the public good or undermine the township’s zoning laws or master plan.
The Toms River Zoning Board of Adjustment will decide whether the church can open an overnight shelter. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
Emotional Testimony
The latest hearing included public comments from more than two dozen people, many of whom live in the proposed shelter’s immediate vicinity. Their concerns focused mainly on safety, property values, quality of life, and zoning precedent.
Magnolia Lane resident Patty Kelly Thompson has lived in the home her grandparents built in 1948 for 33 years. She said that the detriments to allowing the shelter were both numerous and irreparable.
Thompson pointed out that current zoning laws prohibit shelters in R-150 residential zones and warned that approving the variance would set a dangerous precedent. She worried about the 7–9 a.m. gap when shelter residents would be expected to leave the facility, but the adjacent day program wouldn’t yet be open.
“The testimony given is less than reassuring (on background checks),” she added. “This is a definite safety concern, and it impinges on our quality of life when they must leave the facility at 7 a.m. Is there any guarantee that they won’t just walk back further onto the property and into the woods?”
Patty Kelly Thompson addressed the Toms River Board of Adjustments, voicing concerns about the long-term impact of placing a homeless shelter in her residential neighborhood. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
Amanda Martin, who lives nearby, said she took extensive notes during the meetings and has helped homeless individuals herself. She was extremely concerned, especially after her 12-year-old daughter was approached by an unhoused person at the school bus stop.
Martin also criticized what she called “evasiveness” in responses from the applicant about rules, supervision, and oversight. She questioned whether the board of adjustment members had done a site visit to determine the feasibility of the planned shelter from a zoning perspective.
Homeowner Dina Puglisi, who lives a street away from the church, described herself as someone who spent 25 years living in diverse neighborhoods in New York City. Even there, she said, proximity to shelters affects home values. Puglisi said she’s angry.
“I chose this location and committed to being a premium taxpayer so I could live next to a church and a golf course in a neighborhood that felt like Mayberry,” she said. “Not to be next to a homeless services center and certainly not to a shelter.”
Puglisi felt that granting the variance would be a betrayal by the town and asked where to turn for what she viewed as consequences. “For compensation for the 15-20 percent loss in home value,” Puglisi said. “And how quickly and how much are they going to make sure our taxes are reduced?”
Church members and social service advocates pushed back, offering personal accounts of the homeless individuals they serve and arguing that the proposal is not only legal but morally necessary.
Joanne Gwin spoke before the Toms River Zoning Board, sharing personal stories of local unhoused residents and urging approval of the proposed shelter at Christ Episcopal Church. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
Dale Chance, a 40-year church member, spoke about Christ Church’s long-standing involvement with Interfaith Hospitality Network and Family Promise, programs that host unhoused families for one week at a time.
“It has been life changing for the people we host, and for me personally,” shared Chance. “Try for a moment to see this shelter as an asset to your community, giving you and your families the opportunity to open your hearts to provide a meal, a warm coat, a soft pillow to a fellow human being who has fallen on hard times.”
Attorney Jeffrey Wild, a partner at Lowenstein Sandler and an officer with the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness, warned that denying the application could result in a legal battle the township might lose.
“We’re talking about a church that wants to minister to the poor on their property, not somebody else’s property,” Wild said. “The First Amendment guarantees that there’s a right to minister to the poor, and it’s also an inherently beneficial use under zoning law, which towns can’t legally stop unless there’s a clear reason.”
Some residents heckled Wild’s remarks, and attorney Edward Bezdecki objected to his commentary, claiming he was using the public comment period to argue the law. However, Zoning Board Attorney Christopher Dasti overruled the objection, saying that attorneys also have a right to speak during public comments.
Joann Gwin, the community coordinator for JBJ Soul Kitchen and a board member of the church for 25 years, attempted to put a face on the homeless. She shared the stories of local unhoused women like Mary, 75, who sleeps in her car, and Nancy and Jane, sisters who were finally housed after 18 months of living in a park.
“If you were to run into any of these women on any given day on the street, you would have had no idea they were homeless or what they were going through,” said Gwin. “They don’t look or act any different than you or me. They could be your mother, your sister or your friend. They are harmless. More importantly, they are human.”
Attorney Jeffrey Wild, an officer with the New Jersey Coalition to End Homelessness, warned that denying the application could result in a legal battle the township might lose. (Photo by Stephanie Faughnan)
Ending The Meeting
Zoning Board Chair Jason Crispin explained the reason the board could not continue the hearing and come to a decision at the May 22 meeting.
“There are seven or eight people here volunteering their time,” he said. “Ten o’clock is a hard stop for us.”
While the board weighs its final decision, the Toms River Township Council is also considering whether to acquire the Christ Church property through eminent domain to convert it into recreational use.
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