diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 19063e44..65843d42 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ Make sure you have the following tools installed:
 
 - Docker
 - Docker Compose
-- Node.Js v14
+- Node.Js v16
 - Yarn package manager
 
 Fork, then clone the repo:
diff --git a/packages/api/lib/controllers/boxesController.js b/packages/api/lib/controllers/boxesController.js
index 03170c17..4d1e9516 100644
--- a/packages/api/lib/controllers/boxesController.js
+++ b/packages/api/lib/controllers/boxesController.js
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ const geoJsonStringifyReplacer = function geoJsonStringifyReplacer (key, box) {
  * @apiParam {Boolean="true","false"} [classify=false] if specified, the api will classify the boxes accordingly to their last measurements.
  * @apiParam {Boolean="true","false"} [minimal=false] if specified, the api will only return a minimal set of box metadata consisting of [_id, updatedAt, currentLocation, exposure, name] for a fast response.
  * @apiParam {Boolean="true","false"} [full=false] if true the API will return populated lastMeasurements (use this with caution for now, expensive on the database)
- * @apiParam {String} [near] A comma separated coordinate, if specified, the api will only return senseBoxes within maxDistance (in m) of this location
+ * @apiParam {Number} [near] A comma separated coordinate, if specified, the api will only return senseBoxes within maxDistance (in m) of this location
  * @apiParam {Number} [maxDistance=1000] the amount of meters around the near Parameter that the api will search for senseBoxes
  * @apiUse ExposureFilterParam
  * @apiUse BBoxParam
@@ -819,7 +819,7 @@ module.exports = {
         allowedValues: ['true', 'false'],
       },
       { name: 'full', defaultValue: 'false', allowedValues: ['true', 'false'] },
-      { name: 'near' },
+      { predef: 'near' },
       { name: 'maxDistance' },
       { predef: 'bbox' },
     ]),
diff --git a/packages/api/lib/helpers/userParamHelpers.js b/packages/api/lib/helpers/userParamHelpers.js
index d5e85755..4eddac6b 100644
--- a/packages/api/lib/helpers/userParamHelpers.js
+++ b/packages/api/lib/helpers/userParamHelpers.js
@@ -348,6 +348,27 @@ const retrieveLocationParameter = function ({ value }) {
   }
 };
 
+const retrieveNearParameter = function ({ value, dataType, dataTypeIsArray }) {
+  try {
+    // wrap dataType in array for calling of casting function
+    dataType = dataTypeIsArray ? dataType[0] : dataType;
+    if (!dataTypeIsArray && Array.isArray(value)) {
+      return { error: ARRAY_NOT_ALLOWED };
+    }
+
+    // test and cast value against dataType
+    value = castParam(value, dataType, dataTypeIsArray);
+
+    if (typeof value === 'undefined') {
+      return { error: CAST_FAILED };
+    }
+
+    return { castedValue: transformAndValidateCoords(value) };
+  } catch (err) {
+    return { error: ERROR_CUSTOM_MESSAGE, message: err.message };
+  }
+};
+
 const
   GET_DATA_MULTI_DEFAULT_COLUMNS = ['sensorId', 'createdAt', 'value', 'lat', 'lon'],
   GET_DATA_MULTI_ALLOWED_COLUMNS = ['createdAt', 'value', 'lat', 'lon', 'height', 'unit', 'boxId', 'sensorId', 'phenomenon', 'sensorType', 'boxName', 'exposure'];
@@ -389,7 +410,7 @@ const retrieveParametersPredefs = {
     return { name: 'bbox', dataType: 'bbox' };
   },
   'near' () {
-    return { name: 'near', dataType: 'as-is' };
+    return { name: 'near', dataType: ['Number'], paramValidatorAndParser: retrieveNearParameter };
   },
   'maxDistance' () {
     return { name: 'maxDistance', dataType: 'as-is' };
diff --git a/packages/models/src/box/box.js b/packages/models/src/box/box.js
index 32200502..279799ae 100644
--- a/packages/models/src/box/box.js
+++ b/packages/models/src/box/box.js
@@ -1005,7 +1005,7 @@ const buildFindBoxesQuery = function buildFindBoxesQuery (opts = {}) {
       '$near': {
         '$geometry': {
           type: 'Point',
-          coordinates: [near.split(',')[0], near.split(',')[1]]
+          coordinates: [near[0], near[1]]
         },
         '$maxDistance': maxDistance ? maxDistance : 1000,
       }
diff --git a/tests/tests/002-location_tests.js b/tests/tests/002-location_tests.js
index ec0bbb49..63c4ae03 100644
--- a/tests/tests/002-location_tests.js
+++ b/tests/tests/002-location_tests.js
@@ -284,6 +284,14 @@ describe('openSenseMap API locations tests', function () {
         });
     });
 
+    it('should reject filtering boxes near a location with wrong parameter values', function () {
+      return chakram.get(`${BASE_URL}?near=test,60`).then(function (response) {
+        expect(response).to.have.status(422);
+
+        return chakram.wait();
+      });
+    });
+
   });
 
   describe('POST /boxes/:boxID/:sensorID', function () {