Two Seaside Heights Subdivisions Get Delayed Again

The Seaside Heights planning board heard two applications Monday night on separately proposed subdivisions – coincidentally on the same street – but neither moved to a vote.

211 Sampson Avenue

211 Sampson Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)

The first hearing concerned an application that had been workshopped by board members in the spring and had come to a full consideration Monday night. The owner of the property at 211 Sampson Avenue has proposed subdividing the 100-by-100 foot property into three parcels that would comply with the borough’s 20-by-100 minimum zoning requirement. A portion of the site that is currently developed with a modern, raised home would remain on a 60-by-100 foot lot while an asphalt driveway, above-ground pool and garage would be demolished in favor of the creation of two 20-by-100 lots where two new homes would be built.

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The hearing hit a snag when a neighboring resident approached the board, indicating he was not able to view revised plans for the project which had been submitted after the workshop hearing in May. Further, some board professionals were concerned over a lack of supporting documentation visually depicting plans for the site.

“You may want to take the board’s concerns and think about getting us a site plan or a subdivision plan so we can properly adjudicate this matter,” board attorney Steven Zabarsky told the property owner and his representatives.

The application will be heard again at a meeting in December.

308-310 Sampson Avenue

308-310 Sampson Avenue (Credit: Google Maps)

Further west on Sampson Avenue, an application that has been pending for the subdivision of the property at 308-310 Sampson Avenue will have to wait for 2026 to get a vote – at the request of the applicant.

The 5,052 square foot property has three existing structures, including a four-unit, two-story structure in the rear of the property; and two one-unit, single story structures in the front portion of the property. The property owner intends to leave the existing multi-family structure in the rear, and replace two structures in the front portion of the property with two new 3-story, single family homes within the existing footprints.

At previous board hearings, members cautioned the applicant over parking concerns, noting that technically, six dwelling units would normally require 12 parking spaces. The application proposes three parking spaces for the three units, two of which would be located on the first level of the front-facing homes since they would be raised for flood code compliance. The expanded driveway, however, would cause the borough to lose two on-street parking spaces that already exist.

Both the property owner and the board ran into a nearly-identical problem that occurred in August, the last time the matter came up for a formal hearing. A new board member lives near the property, and is therefore unable to hear the case due to a conflict of interest, and another board member was absent. Since the application requires two use variances – or “D” variances – the planning board must act as a zoning board under state land use statutes, and the applicant must receive a supermajority of members voting in favor of the project for approval.

The nine member planning board is reduced to a seven-member zoning board, with support from five members required. The new board member, Michelle Humphrey, lives within 200-feet of the property in question, while another board member who serves as the mayor’s designee is also unable to hear the case as a matter of state law since he can only hear planning cases rather than zoning cases. The property owner could have taken a chance presenting the case to a smaller number of board members, but given the requirement to attain a supermajority, requested another adjournment of the case.

The application will now be heard at the board’s Jan. 26, 2026 meeting.