Editor’s Note: The clerk for the Zoning Board of Adjustment stated that the applicant is very likely to postpone the hearing, but it has not been made official yet.
TOMS RIVER – Facing an already busy agenda, the Muslim Society of South Jersey asked for their application before the Zoning Board of Adjustment to be put off until the April 27 meeting. It was originally to be heard at the February 23 meeting.
There were already several applications to be heard before the school application. Representatives from the Muslim Society contacted the zoning board to ask for their application to be heard at a different date because there was a good chance it would not be heard that night anyway, the zoning board secretary said.
According to the zoning board, the Bilal Educational Academy/Muslim Society of South Jersey proposed a 51,040-square-foot building at 1733 Lakewood Road/Route 9, near the existing Masjid Bilal. The two-story building would be on the northbound side of the road between Silverton and Church roads.
A use variance is required because the parcel is zoned as a rural highway business zone. A school would not be conforming. Additionally, a minimum of 10 acres is required to build a school. The lot is 5.568 acres.
This was not the first time the application was held over. It was first scheduled for October. The date is now the April 27 meeting, at 7:30 p.m. at town hall.
