Home Care In Island Heights, NJ

The Island Heights United Methodist Church will host its 37^th “Christmas in Island Heights” House Tour and Holiday Boutique on Saturday, December 2, 2023. Tickets for the House Tour (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) are $35 through December 1st and $40 on the day of the event. A free pop-up Holiday Boutique (9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) at the local elementary school will feature jewelry, artwork, accessories, and other unique handmade items from area artisans.

Appearing on the tour are six holiday-dressed homes in Island Heights, a historic riverside community and former Methodist Camp Meeting Ground. Known for its Victorian architecture, Island Heights offers an eclectic mix of old and new, and visitors will view a unique sampling on Tour day.

Highlights include: a perfectly restored turreted Victorian mansion on the Toms River waterfront built in 1896, an adorable 1954 cottage on Ocean Avenue, an impressive newly constructed bayfront home, and the Island Heights Cultural and Heritage Association’s Cottage Museum built in 1879, with its historically accurate depiction of life in an original Island Heights “Carpenter Gothic” two-story summer cottage. The Cottage will be decorated in classic Victorian style with gold, rich reds, and deep greens, allowing guests to experience a festive Christmas celebration circa 1880.

In addition to the Holiday Boutique at the Island Heights Elementary School (115 Summit Avenue, Lake Avenue entrance), ticket holders have access to a craft show at the church (111 Ocean Avenue), which includes a bake sale. Guests can participate in a free drawing at the boutique on tour day for the chance to win a Christmas collectible.

For a nominal fee, lunch will be served at the church from 12 to 4 p.m. and will include homemade Methodist Minestrone soup, sandwiches, and desserts. Breakfast is available at the Church from 8:00 to 10:30 a.m. ($7 adults, $5 children), and guests can enjoy hot beverages and homemade sweets in one of two tearooms from 1 to 4 p.m. for $5.

On tour day, other Island Heights points of interest will open their doors, including the Ocean County Artists’ Guild; the Island Heights Library, the Ludlow Thorston Art Gallery, and the John F. Peto Studio Museum.

As part of these holiday festivities, the Church will host a Christmas Caroling Service and Community Blessing at 7:30 p.m. on house-tour eve, Friday, December 1st. All are welcome.

Tour tickets may be purchased for $35 (until December 1) at the Island Heights United Methodist Church, 111 Ocean Avenue, Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. or at one of these Island Heights locations: Ocean County Artists' Guild (Ocean and Chestnut avenues) and Fast Break (1635 Hwy 37 East), and in Toms River at Skip’s Florist (1186 Washington Street).

To reserve tickets, email [email protected]. Tickets may also be purchased on the day of the House Tour beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the church for $40. Tickets may also be purchased online at ihumc.org

For more information, call the church office at 732-929-0444, email [email protected], or visit www.IHUMC.org.

A parking lot on the Boulevard in Seaside Heights is proposed to become the borough’s next mixed use development project.

The borough’s planning board held a work session meeting Monday where the owner of the property at 710 Boulevard – currently used as a private parking lot across Blaine Avenue from Hemingway’s – proposed seven buildings, including a group of single-family homes and a mixed-use apartment and commercial bloc that will front the Boulevard.

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Attorney Matthew Heagen, representing the developer, said his client is seeking approval to subdivide the 13,400 square foot vacant parking lot into seven separate lots. If approved, the plan calls for the construction of six single-family homes and a multi-use property along the Boulevard that will contain two, 2-bedroom apartments and 1,472 square feet of retail space on the ground level.

There were no indications on which businesses would occupy the commercial space, however representatives said they intend on following applicable zoning codes.

The homes would measure about 1,500 square feet each, said Matthew Wilder, an engineer on the project.

“This is very similar to what we did on the Aquarius [Motel] property, and those sold out very quickly,” he said, emphasizing the demand for housing and mixed-use development in Seaside Heights. “Instead of all of these properties competing against each other, we wanted to give people a variety.”

The proposed homes would cost about $100,000 less than those built at their former Aquarius property, on Kearney Avenue in the western portion of town, he said.

Members of the board brought up some concerns over parking and the fact that some of the units may face a neighboring liquor store, but overall, representatives for the property owner said the goal of the mixed use aspect of the project is to ensure it fits in with the character of the overall redevelopment plan of the Boulevard district. The property in question is not part of any formally-designated redevelopment area, however Wilder said that, being familiar with how the area is being planned, the proposal would blend well.

The project will be formally proposed at the next regular meeting of the board, scheduled for Nov. 27 at 6 p.m. in the council chambers above the firehouse. The property owner will likely be requesting variance relief for a front yard setback, and for density and lot area, primarily due to the shape of the site. A parking variance may be required, however Wilder said he and his team may be able to fit another off-street parking space onto the property.

“We asked for two driveway exits but the county denied us and allowed us one,” he said.

Seaside Heights is planning to build a new playground on its bayfront where just a few items remain from a previous playground on the site. This time, however, officials hope to receive state grant funding to build what has become known as an “inclusive” playground that allows all children – including those with physical and developmental disabilities – to access the equipment.

Funding for the project, estimated to cost $750,000, would come at least partially from the state Department of Environmental Protection under Jake’s Law, a 2018 measure that incentivizes counties and towns to build inclusive playgrounds for children. The term “Jake’s Law” refers to Jake’s Place, a playground in Cherry Hill, which was created in honor of Jacob Cummings-Nasto, who passed away due to complications of heart surgery at the age of two, and enjoyed spending time at a local park.

In Seaside Heights, the playground is being planned for Sunset Beach, the borough’s main bay beach off Route 35 where there is also located a large parking lot, public dock, swimming area and boat ramp.

“The site is on Barnegat Bay, next to Stewart’s, where there used to be a playground that was removed,” said Jennifer Gorini, the borough’s planning consultant on the project. “There are now swings and two sail structures, both of which will be removed once this is installed.”

Gorini said the playground will be located about 50 feet from the mean high water mark of the bay, keeping it on-grade with the existing boardwalk for easy access. A seating “wall” will be designed to mark the playground off, and a quiet space near picnic tables, likely underneath natural foliage, will be included as part of a requirement under the Jake’s Law program that there be such a space for children with sensory issues.

New public restrooms would also have to be added to the site as part of the requirements under the law, as the nearest restrooms, located at Stewart’s, would not meet the grant requirements.

“The borough is already working on a standalone playground structure that will have two family-use or assisted-use restrooms,” said Gorini. “They will need to be on the paved area because of sewer service, but the Green Acres program will not be able to distribute any funds until that bathroom is in place.”

The playground itself will include many features that can be found in most playgrounds like swing sets and , however they will be designed specifically to be accessible – and fun, of course – for all children, disabled or not. A spin-around attraction would even allow wheelchairs to be loaded into the carrier for a quick ride, and “transfer decks” would likewise allow wheelchair access to swings and slides.

The area also would be cordoned off from the rest of the beach and the private businesses nearby.

“There are no legal specifications for the fence – it can be something like shrubs – and we’re going to propose something that goes with the area, probably something nautical,” Gorini said.

The state Department of Environmental Protection would cover up to 75 percent of the cost of the playground if the grant funding is approved, and can be combined with a $100,000 grant the borough has already received in order to improve the bay beach area. The total amount the borough would expend on the project is forecast to be about $87,500.

Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz said the borough is hopeful the grant funding will be approved over the winter months and the playground can be installed next summer. Under the Jake’s Law funding process, the borough council must pass a resolution of support, which is planned for the governing body’s Jan. 17 meeting.

The idea for an inclusive playground originated from “visioning” meetings held with residents over the last several months, asking for input on long-term plans that could benefit the town.

“We’ve gotten feedback already from residents stating that this is something they want to see,” Gorini said.

The second portion of a study focusing on the potential integration of Seaside Heights into the Toms River Regional school district as a full-member municipality has been released, and will likely be presented to voters in the form of a referendum if approved by local leaders and the state.

Seaside Heights currently operates its own school district that provides pre-school to sixth grade classes at the Hugh J. Boyd Elementary School on Bay Boulevard. After being promoted from sixth grade, students move on to the Central Regional school district, based in Bayville, for middle school and high school classes.

Two options had been studied – establishing a sending-receiving relationship with the Toms River Regional school district and paying per-student tuition, or a full integration into the Toms River system under which Seaside Heights residents would be assessed TRRS school taxes under a special formula. The referendum would ask voters to choose whether to join the TRRS district as a full member; Toms River school officials were reportedly opposed to the tuition-based model.

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“The timing of the referendum is going to depend on when Toms River adopts the study,” said Borough Administrator Christopher Vaz. “Their next meeting is in December, but the Commissioner of Education also has to approve it, so the soonest date would probably be March.”

The regionalization study was conducted at the behest of the state, which funded the study as part of an aid package to Seaside Heights aimed at bridging the gap between ratables lost during Superstorm Sandy and the current day. While a well-documented building boom is underway in Seaside Heights, the gap has yet to be fully closed, and Trenton officials have endorsed regionalization as a cost-saving measure.

For taxpayers, the prospect of becoming full members of TRRS may come with some concern, as increasing property values in Seaside Heights may, at some point, eclipse the average valuation in the remainder of the regional district, resulting in high per-pupil costs. Seaside Park has long lamented a similar relationship with Central Regional. In this case, however, state officials say they have developed a formula that would save taxpayer dollars instead of increasing the property tax burden.

“The initial impetus for this was our transitional aid,” said Vaz. “The state was asking us to do this, so we’ve been doing everything we can to do what we’re required to do, but the study also brought up some interesting issues. In the end it will be up to the people to vote.”

The issues brought up in the study were not purely financial in nature. Consultants hired to perform the study noted that Seaside Heights’ student population has been historically transient with a large number of students who require English language curriculum and other special services. These services, the initial study said, could be delivered with better results in the larger TRRS district with more resources and programs at its disposal.

Mary Robinson-Cohen, a former teacher and Roosevelt Public School District superintendent who is also an attorney, was one of the consultants who led the study.

“In all of the state testing, unfortunately, the children were lagging behind,” said Cohen. “There were no categories where the children were advanced-proficient and in the other categories they were minimally proficient. … The children were, mainly, below proficient.”

More on the initial report can be found in Shorebeat’s original story published late last year.

The new, 104-page report that was released last week is available online as well. This report also indicates something of an endorsement of the regionalization plan.

“We do not see any negative educational implications of the proposed new regionalization agreement,” the report, authored by consultant Steven Cea. “On the contrary, the consultants envision distinct educational advantages for both districts and no identifiable impact, much less a substantial negative impact, on Central Regional if the small number of students from Seaside Heights as phased out. The consultants recommend that a regionalization be pursued between the Seaside Heights Board of Education and the Toms River Board of Education in Grades Pre-K through 12.”

Under the plan, Seaside Heights would close its elementary district and the Boyd school, and withdraw from Central Regional. Central Regional officials would not have a say in the matter. Seaside Heights teachers would be offered positions in the Toms River Regional district.

Regionalization could be achieved in two ways, the report said: reconstituting the entire TRRS district, which would require individual referendum support from all current member municipalities, or expanding TRRS to include one additional member, which would require a single collective majority vote in all current TRRS communities as well as Seaside Heights.

The first option was not considered as it was deemed unlikely to pass and would not result in savings for each community.

Seaside Heights is projected to add an average of 294 students to Toms River Regional over an initial five-period at an average annual cost of $2.4 million. Over a ten-year period, the enrollment is projected to be 277 students at an average cost of $2.3 million. Both districts have seen declining enrollment from historic highs.

At fully-allocated funding based on property values, Seaside Heights residents would see a property tax increase as a result of regionalization, the study found, however a current state policies allow for a phased implementation that would create savings for a decade before culminating in the fully-allocated formula.

Seaside Heights “would experience an average annual tax increase of $239,000 over the five-year period by joining Toms River Regional as a regional member,” the report said. “Over a ten-year period, unless modified, Seaside Heights would see an average annual tax increase of $337,000.”

The four other communities served by TRRS would all see a tax levy decrease in an unmodified allocation. But the opposite is true if the allocation were to be modified to phase in the program, or if Seaside Heights were to join TRRS in a tuition-based relationship, which has been rejected by TRRS and would be unlikely to pass muster with voters, the consultants found.

“Under a previous analysis using a sending-receiving model, Seaside Heights saw potential savings of more than $2 million,” the report stated. “Indeed, an allocation using 100 percent per pupil would yield similar savings. However, as noted, changing the allocation method to use enrollment will cause a tax increase among a majority of the current regional members. In other words, changing the allocation mix to create tax savings for Seaside Heights will generate tax increases for many of the other regional members.”

“Under the current regional allocation using 100 percent equalized value, Seaside Heights contributes more than $4 million above what is needed to educate its students in Toms River Regional,” the report noted.

If a phased approach were to be implemented, Seaside Heights has stipulated savings of $1.2 million for the first five years, which will be reduced by $200,000 each year until exhausted. The total tax reduction in the first year for the current regional members totals $2 million, or about 1.1 percent of each member’s current tax levy. The savings for the original member communities triple over the ten-year period.

The report states that without modification, the five-year impact for homes assessed at $300,000 in Seaside Heights would see a tax increase of $109. With the modification, during the first five years, a home in Seaside Heights assessed at $300,000 would see a tax reduction of about $544. Ultimately over the long term, however, Seaside Heights residents would see a tax increase despite overall savings in educating its students.

Still, the consultants indicated an endorsement of the plan.

“In short, the educational and net financial benefits of a K-12 regional school district that includes the current constituents of Toms River Regional and adds Seaside Heights are considerable,” they said. “The consultants recommend that both Boards consider pursuing this opportunity with the Department of Education in order to submit the regionalization option to the voters in each of their respective communities.”

Vaz said a plan will be developed with input from the consultants, district officials on each side of Barnegat Bay, and representatives from the state Department of Transportation, which will be presented to voters in all of the TRRS communities and Seaside Heights.

If the referendum fails, the status quo – keeping the Boyd school open and sending students to Central Regional for grades 7-12 would continue.

“If the vote is ‘no,’ then it stays the way it is,” said Vaz.

A plan to “activate” the Boulevard where the infamous Karma nightclub stands in an increasingly-deteriorated condition was approved unanimously by the Seaside Heights planning board this week.

The nightclub, which also included a restaurant and was prominently featured on MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” will be demolished and replaced by a multi-story mixed-use complex with ultra-modern architecture, retail space and luxury amenities for residents of 38 condominiums with an open rooftop. The video embedded above shows the current condition of the structure. (Note: some ad blockers may interfere with the video player.)

A group of developers behind the project presented a revised case to the board this week, reflecting new heights and a slightly-revised entrance and exit plan. The proposed complex was previously presented to the board, however since Karma falls in a legally-designated redevelopment area, its representatives were required to resubmit their plans for a fresh hearing despite only minor changes from the initial proposal.

The 38-unit residential complex was approved to stand at a height of 52.5 feet, up from 50 feet. An elevator shaft that will take residents to the open rooftop will stand an additional 14-feet above the building beside a bulkhead, making the total height of the building 64 feet, increased from the initially-proposed 60 feet.

“Typically, when you’re looking at a height variance, it’s about the perception of the property and what impact that variance would have,” said project engineer Matthew Wilder. “The reason … is truly driven by a couple of things, especially the height of the retail space.”

Had the building strictly complied with the initial height requirement, the retail shops that would be included in the complex would have lower-than-usual heights, making them less attractive, Wilder said. Additionally, the first-floor parking garage height would have to be lowered, making it a cramped space for vehicles.

“Because the parking garage and the retail are together in terms of the floor plans, and we’re proposing a ten-foot height for the retail [units], we are requesting the variance,” said Wilder. “That really provides a much more desirable design for that space. We don’t want to have retail space that is unsuccessful, and the additional [garage] height does create a more inviting atmosphere and better product from a residential standpoint.”

The building will also include, in another portion of the first floor, an indoor pool.

“We’ll also have a small gym area and sauna room for the guests as well,” architect Jason Hanrahan said. “Going up from there, on the second living level, we’ll have a large storage area, so we will have ample storage for the condos in the space.”

The roof will be left open-air.

“There is no internal amenity space on the roof – just outdoor access, and it allows the people who live there to check out the scene, see the fireworks,” he said. “There is no indoor space, no cooking, things like that.”

Wilder said Ocean County suggested a one-way traffic flow for vehicles entering and exiting the building due to its proximity to public parking, a stipulation to which the developers agreed. The complex will include 54 parking spaces for residents, including 18 spaces with electric vehicle charging access. The building’s parking lot will be for residents only.

Previously, representatives of the developers of the project have said the idea behind the building’s design is to “activate” the Boulevard with a modern mixed-use complex that aesthetically fits in with a larger redevelopment effort along the entire Boulevard corridor.

“We want to create that pedestrian-friendly feel that will activate the Boulevard,” said Hanrahan previously, whose firm, MODE Architects, has been responsible for the design of several high-profile projects up and down the Jersey Shore, including the Ocean Club restaurant and cabana club on the oceanfront. “We’ll condition the space properly, we’ll have proper glazing, and this is intended to be a full year-round building with amenities year-round – not just the summer.”

The property was sold at auction in 2020 after Karma closed its doors amidst a bankruptcy filing by the former owner. The building has been vacant ever since, and will be torn down in anticipation of the new development.

In 2018, Seaside Heights officials sought an injunction to shut down Karma following alleged violations of borough ordinances and state liquor laws. The nightclub, by that time, was already for sale and never reopened. Its heyday occurred late in its existence, when the cast of the hit reality show “Jersey Shore” were filmed partying there in nearly every episode, but after the show’s run ended, the borough was hard-hit by Superstorm Sandy and nightclubs in Seaside Heights began to fall out of favor with partiers. At the same time, the borough doubled down on its efforts to revitalize the Boulevard district, raze vacant buildings and troublesome motels, and attract investors to re-imagine the most visible areas of town.

In recent months, the building has become notably deteriorated and in a poor physical conditions. Demolition is expected to come soon, however, as the developers have their eyes on a 2024 opening.