TOMS RIVER – In downtown Toms River, there’s a small area of old buildings by a large parking lot that will one day be redeveloped into shops and more.

  To be more precise, it’s the area where the Water Street restaurant is and the River Lady launches from. The little street leading down that route is Robbins Parkway, and the area has been designated as the Robbins Parkway Redevelopment Area.

  The concept of the redevelopment is to bring a mix of street-level, walkable businesses. A “redevelopment” area is a designation made by officials.

  There’s a difference between a development and a redevelopment. The simplified version is this: An open field would be developed. A developer would make a plan and ask for approval from the town.

  A redevelopment is when something is already there but officials want something else. Usually, a town will assign a redeveloper and they will work together, creating a plan that benefits the town and the redeveloper. There are legal hoops to jump through before getting there. Sometimes, state funding is available to clean up environmentally sensitive areas.

  The plan calls for this area to be a waterfront entertainment and restaurant district.

  Perhaps the most notable trait is that the downtown needs parking. Even in this small area, you are likely to see people waiting at the light to cross in order to make it to the restaurant on a busy night.

  The plan involves a parking garage on the property joined by a skyway over Water Street to the parking garage used for the library and municipal buildings. Wrapping around the garage on one side would be two levels of restaurants and retail space. The Water Street Grille complex would expand to outdoor wedding receptions and other events.

  This would be connected by a Riverwalk from Huddy Park to the existing condominium complex east of this.

  The area will be part of a Village Seaport Zone. Zoning is a set of rules a town creates for what is allowed in a given area. In this zone, the following are allowed:

• Single-family dwellings (there are lots of regulations on how they could be built).
• Governmental and quasi-public uses, except maintenance garages and storage yards.
• Art galleries and museums.
• Antique and curio shops.
• Offices of a business or public utility.
• Shops of artisans or craftsmen.
• Retail less than 5,000 square feet.
• Personal service establishments, such as barber-tailoring or shoe repair shops, but excluding self-service laundries, tattoo parlors and body piercing.
• Restaurants.
• Single- or multiple-family residences, within regulations.

  There are also conditional uses, such as bed and breakfasts.

  The Downtown Core Redevelopment Plan was adopted on February 26, 2019 and amended on September 24, 2019 to recognize the Robbins Parkway Redevelopment Area and the Arts and Culture District.

  The Capodagli Property Company was conditionally designated the redeveloper. Township Planner David Roberts said they have purchased the boatworks property and are considering options for it, such as a waterfront restaurant with two levels of catering or banquet space above it.