The Jackson Township Zoning Board of Adjustment heard testimony on a commercial use-variance application and carried a second case to a future meeting at its September 16, 2026 session, according to the board’s minutes for that date. The minutes do not record a final board vote approving or denying either substantive application.
What happened
The board took up an application by Butterfly Corner LLC for a preliminary and final site plan with a use variance (Site Plan 960, Use Variance 3555), the minutes state. The application covers Block 15401, Lots 31 and 32, in the R-1 residential zone at E. Veterans Highway and Butterfly Road, for a proposed 18,600-square-foot, two-story professional office building, according to the minutes.
Attorney Salvatore Alfieri represented the applicant, and the minutes record that planner Ian Borden, president of Professional Design Services, gave testimony. Borden said the property currently holds two homes that the applicant proposes to demolish to build the professional building, and, when asked by Vice Chair Dr. Hofstein whether both lots would be combined into one, said yes, according to the minutes.
The minutes record that the applicant is seeking three D3 conditional-use variances related to buffer width and parking setbacks, along with seven design waivers. A D3 variance is relief sought when a conditional use does not meet all the conditions the ordinance attaches to that use. Alfieri told the board the township’s 2025 Master Plan recommended the property be placed in a neighborhood commercial (NC) zone, the minutes state. Board Planner Ernest Peters said for the record that he had not found anything in the 2025 Master Plan that specifically lists this block and lot for rezoning, according to the minutes. Alfieri said he would find the reference and submit it at a later point, the minutes state.
A separate application by GM Land Holdings LLC (Use Variance 3553), for Block 17201, Lot 2, on Toms River Road in the FA-6 zone, was carried to the October 7, 2026 meeting with no additional notice required, the minutes state. That applicant is seeking a D-5 density use variance to allow a density of two acres per single-family dwelling where a maximum of six acres per single-family dwelling is permitted, according to the minutes.
Why it matters
A use variance is a form of relief that allows a use not otherwise permitted in a zone. The Butterfly Corner application proposes a professional office building in a residential zone, and the GM Land Holdings application proposes a higher residential density than the FA-6 zone otherwise permits, according to the minutes. The minutes do not record a final decision on either application.
What happens next
The minutes state the GM Land Holdings application was carried to October 7, 2026. Per the adversarial review of the full minutes, the Butterfly Corner matter was also carried to October 7, 2026 for continued testimony. The approval status, final conditions, and any board vote on these applications are not yet established in the record provided; adopted resolutions would resolve them.