TOMS RIVER - A controversial plan to build apartments and stores at Route 9 and Cox Cro Road has been revamped by the developer, but residents continue to raise concerns about traffic impacts.

The newest plan for Cox Cro Crossing includes 42 apartments and 63,000 square feet of retail space, according to the project's engineer, Kenneth Schlatmann of Toms River.

Access to the project from Cox Cro Road has been eliminated, and there will be only one entrance and exit on Route 9, Schlatmann said at Wednesday night's Planning Board meeting.

The 42 apartments will be located in two buildings on the south side of the property, while the stores will be located in two commercial buildings separated from the apartments by a 50-foot buffer of trees and shrubs.

There also would be more than 10,500-square-feet of active recreational space provided on the property.

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Planning Board member Robert Stone, who chaired Wednesday night's hearing, praised the changes to the application, which dropped the number of variances needed from 16 to four.

"Thank you for your hard work," he said to Schlatmann and Michael Beck, the Toms River lawyer representing the applicant.

Residents who attended the hearing were not as positive.

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They pointed out that the developer is seeking to build housing and retail on a 10-acre parcel, while township zoning ordinances require 20 acres.

Residents of Riverwood Chase, a townhouse development located right behind the parcel where the apartments and shopping center are proposed, said they are concerned that drivers leaving Cox Cro Crossing will wind up cutting through their neighborhood.

The Cox Cro Crossing application has been before the Planning Board for more than a year, and has been modified several times.

Residents have raised concerns about traffic congestion and overdevelopment in an area where hundreds of homes have been built in the last five years.

Township officials have struggled to deal with residents' anger about the transformation of North Dover from mostly rural to largely residential over the past decade.

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A building moratorium was suggested, and then abandoned, by the Township Council earlier this year. Watch the video above to learn more about North Dover development.

The previous version of the application included 40 apartments on the second- and third floors of a building with retail space on the first floor. The size of that building — 344-feet-long — was far larger than the 175-foot size limit for the property.

The updated development will include no building longer than 168 feet. Cox Cro Crossing is located next to the site of Ocean National Plaza, which was destroyed by fire in July.

Another public hearing on Cox Cro Crossing is scheduled for Nov. 7 at town hall, 33 Washington St.

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