Though many of the real estate agents hail from Lakewood, a town with a booming Orthodox Jewish population, Toms River Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher stressed that this ordinance is not anti-Semitic in nature. Watch video
TOMS RIVER -- The township adopted an ordinance Tuesday night barring real estate solicitors from two areas in the North Dover section of town.
The ordinance passed with a 5-0 vote from the Township Council, and will remain in effect for five years.
At issue is what residents in the area, which shares a border with Lakewood, describe as "intense, incessant and intimidating direct solicitations" of real estate, according to the ordinance.
Though many of the real estate agents hail from Lakewood, a town with a booming Orthodox Jewish population, Toms River Mayor Thomas F. Kelaher stressed that this ordinance is not anti-Semitic in nature.
"It's strictly based on the type of conduct (the realtors) rely on," Kelaher said in a phone interview with NJ Advance Media.
After receiving numerous complaints of real estate canvassing, the township issued a report Feb. 5 following an investigation and public hearing on the issue.
The 16-page report found evidence of "inordinate and excessive real estate canvassing, to the detriment of residents' privacy and quality of life." It said residents often feel "under siege, unsafe and unduly pressured to sell their homes."
As noted in the report, residents experienced solicitation at all hours of the day on weekdays and weekends. The report said residents complained of "incessant and unwelcome" solicitation on holidays, even Thanksgiving and Christmas Day.
"It's been scary," a Brower Avenue resident said, according to the report.
Kelaher, the mayor, said the township has seen an uptick in solicitation in the last couple years. He attributes it to a population boom in nearby Lakewood.
"You know what's going on in Lakewood, they want to make it the Yeshiva capital of the world and God bless them if they do, but they're using up all the space in Lakewood and they're spilling over," Kelaher said.
He said other towns that share a border with Lakewood, like Jackson, have also experienced similar issues and have adopted so-called "no-knock" ordinances.
Lakewood had nearly 93,000 residents in 2010, according to data from the 2010 census. Township officials told the Associated Press that they estimate there are closer to 120,000 residents now.
The "cease and desist" ordinance adopted Tuesday night was modeled after one in New York state. Toms River previously adopted a "no-knock" ordinance in 2004, which allowed residents to get a sticker to place on their front doors to show they weren't open to solicitation.
More than 9,000 residents signed up under the ordinance, Kelaher said. But apparently the stickers didn't deter solicitors from pitching residents, and so the township went a step further to ban solicitation all together.
"People are panicking," Kelaher said. "It's really disconcerting, it really is."
A for sale sign is seen across from a don't sell, Toms River strong sign Monday, Feb. 22, 2016, in Toms River. (AP Photo/Mel Evans) He said many of the residents where solicitation is the worst starting putting up signs on their front law that say, "Don't sell! Toms River Strong."
Avi Schnall, the state director of Agudath Israel, a national grassroots advocacy and social service organization representing Orthodox Jews, told the Associated Press he feels recent changes to "no-knock" ordinances are "troubling."
He believes the changes are part of a larger effort to keep members of the Orthodox Jewish community from moving in, and that real estate agents are being used as scapegoats.
"The growth in Lakewood is a sign of the great quality of life which is attracting all these people," Schnall told the AP.
Information from the Associated Press was used in this report.
Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.