Toms River GOP: Lawyer used anti-Semitism accusations to 'bully' township

Jean Mikle | Asbury Park Press

Show Caption Hide Caption North Dover mobile homes find tranquility shattered by construction Roberts Mobile Home Park residents were once surrounded by woodlands but now find themselves surrounded by construction equipment as approximately 1,400 news housing units are added to their area. STAFF PHOTO BY PETER ACKERMAN

TOMS RIVER - Four Republican councilmen slammed Toms River lawyer Harvey L. York, who they say is "using accusations of anti-Semitism to bully the township into approving additional housing units that it cannot afford."

GOP Council President Brian Kubiel, council Vice President George E. Wittmann Jr. and council members Maria Maruca and Maurice B. "Mo" Hill Jr. claim York implied a zoning change adopted by the council earlier this month was motivated by anti-Semitism.

“Trying to chill legitimate debate about development decisions by labeling elected officials and residents as anti-Semitic if they voice opposition is offensive," Maruca said in a prepared statement.

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“Mr. York needs to know that our local elected officials will not be bullied or intimidated into approving more development by him falsely accusing us of anti-Semitism. We want to curtail development because our town can’t afford it and our residents don’t want it,” Kubiel said.

York expressed bemusement at the council members' attacks. He said he had reviewed transcripts of the public hearing on the rezoning ordinance "and never once did I mention anti-Semitism."

York represents the Hecht family and Jenette Lipschitz, who own more than 50 of the 64 acres of land that was rezoned. Development on the rezoned properties would be restricted to one house for each two acres, compared with one for every half-acre before the zone change.

York argued against the rezoning at the May 8 council meeting, saying it would slash the value of his clients' property. The Hechts and Lipschitz have owned their land for more than 50 years, he said.

The rezoned properties are located between Whitesville and Cox Cro roads in Toms River's North Dover section. The area has seen rapid development in the past decade, with more than 1,400 housing units approved, under construction or already completed.

Among the new influx of residents in the area have been young Orthodox Jewish families, some of whom have moved to Toms River from neighboring Lakewood.

York expressed bemusement at the council members' attacks. He said he had reviewed transcripts of the public hearing on the rezoning ordinance "and never once did I mention anti-Semitism."

"Perhaps they were confusing me with the member of the public who spoke — Mr. Jesse Goldstein — who did in fact accuse them of anti-Semitic behavior," said York, who is Jewish, although not Orthodox.

Goldstein, a Toms River resident who is a real estate agent and lawyer, attended the May 8 hearing to speak out against the rezoning ordinance.

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Goldstein said the council's real motive was to keep more Orthodox Jews from moving to the area.

“It’s not right. It’s not legal. It’s not moral,” Goldstein said May 8. “This is 'Toms River Strong' all over again.”

Signs proclaiming "Don't Sell! Toms River Strong," cropped up in North Dover about two years ago, urging neighborhood residents not to give in to real estate agents who residents said were pressuring them to sell their homes to Orthodox Jewish families eager to move to Toms River.

At the May 8 hearing, York accused the council of trying to keep families from moving to Toms River. But he did not specifically mention Orthodox Jews.

"Instead of 100 homes, you want 25, so you can keep 75 families out of Toms River,” York said May 8. “Strangely enough, you are not doing it in any other part of town.”

The Republican council majority called the rezoning a legal way “to tackle the problem of overdevelopment due to a sharp increase in the construction of high-density housing in the North Dover section of the township,” in a prepared statement released to the media after they voted for the rezoning.

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Republicans hold a 4-to-3 edge on the township council.

The rezoning was supported by many residents of North Dover who have praised the council's action on social media sites.

Frustration over development in North Dover was the biggest issue in the November election; Democrats won three seats on the council, their first election victory here in more than a decade.

Residents of a North Dover mobile home park — seen in the video above — have watched their entire neighborhood change due to a massive development next door.

The council has been struggling to find a strategy to rein in development here all year. Previous ideas, including a building moratorium or a ban on multifamily housing, were rejected by the majority of council members.

York has said his clients will likely sue in an attempt to overturn the zoning change. Developers from Lakewood had planned to purchase both the Hecht and Lipschitz parcels, he said.

The developers would have paid $5 million for each parcel, he said.

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York, who has represented hundreds of clients before Toms River's planning and zoning boards over the past 40 years, said he had asked council members at the rezoning hearing to provide their reasons for supporting the zone change.

But council members did not respond to York's repeated questions about their motives for changing the zoning. Instead, they sat silent on the dais.

"Mr. York's conduct in furthering this ugly narrative is a poorly veiled attempt to secure favorable outcomes for his client's projects — which mean more development, additional traffic and higher taxes," said Councilman Mo Hill.

Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050, @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com