NJ town gives homeless people 48-hour notice to clear out

🔴 Homeless people were told to leave public spaces in Toms River

🔴 A notice was sent out with the warning

🔴 They have 48 hours to remove their personal belongings

TOMS RIVER — As temperatures soared into triple digits on Tuesday, several dozen homeless people were told to pack up and leave public spaces in the Ocean County township.

According to News 12, the township served a notice to those staying inside the downtown Toms River municipal parking garage telling them to leave or their belongings would be packed up and taken to the public works garage for storage.

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The flyers state that as of June 26, all items left in public spaces for 48 hours or more will be removed and stored at the township’s public works department.

To help, the township is offering free transportation of any items currently on public property to any private shelter or storage facility, News 12 reported.

The notice to remove items comes less than a week after Toms River removed items from the garage last Thursday.

While advocates say these were their personal items, Mayor Dan Rodrick told News 12 he is simply following the town’s ordinance, which prohibits personal items stored on township property.

“These unfortunate people and their belongings are being brought to Toms River by nonprofits to be used as political pawns in an ongoing lobbying effort for a homeless shelter. Given the heat wave, we will allow these folks and their belongings to remain for 48 hours until the heat wave passes,” Rodrick said in a released statement.

Ocean County is one of the only counties in New Jersey that does not have a permanent shelter.

Rodrick is also asking Toms River residents to reach out to their county commissioners and ask them to stop using the Ocean County library in the township as a soup kitchen and a day shelter for the county’s homeless.

It’s no secret that Rodrick is not a fan of Jon Bon Jovi’s JBJ Soul Kitchen’s pop-up at the library. He has been very vocal about his anger, claiming that the charity restaurant has been attracting more homeless people to his town.

The Republican mayor came down on the Ocean County Board of Commissioners, claiming they, and other local officials, are prioritizing “politically connected” nonprofits transporting homeless people to Toms River rather than residents.

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