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State Redevelopment Plan Heads to Public

The first revision of the State Development and Redevelopment Plan in almost a quarter century could be adopted by year’s end after public hearings throughout the state in the coming months.

Walter Lane, right, speaks at podium during presentation to Board of Trustees, seated around U-shaped table in front of him.Walter Lane, deputy executive director of the New Jersey Office of Planning Advocacy, presented an update on the New Jersey State Development and Redevelopment Plan to the Board of Trustees at its meeting on Monday. The state plan is currently being updated for the first time since 2001. A preliminary draft was released last month.

Donna Rendeiro, executive director of the Office of Planning Advocacy, appeared before the Board a year ago with a presentation on the state plan.

The state plan was created by legislation in the mid-80s as a complement to the Mt. Laurel doctrine, Lane said, to protect resources and promote development and redevelopment while identifying areas in the state appropriate for growth and preservation.

The state plan is not designed to dictate to local jurisdictions but to provide guidance, Lane said. The office works with “all levels of government to promote good planning projects.”

After gathering input from other agencies and stakeholder groups last year, a draft preliminary plan was released last month for public comment. A “cross acceptance process” is now under way, according to Lane, which will include 21 meetings across each of the state’s 21 counties. Six public hearings around the state between February 12 and April 16 will follow before the state planning commission adopts the plan.

The original state plan included eight goals, which Lane said have been advanced in some shape or form. The latest version adds two goals for a total of 10:

  • Economic development: Promote economic growth that benefits all residents.
  • Housing: Provide adequate supply of housing for residents of all ages and incomes in communities of their choosing that meet their needs and offer ready access to the full range of supportive goods and services.
  • Infrastructure: Economic opportunity thorough nation leading infrastructure.
  • Revitalization and recentering: Revitalize and recenter the state’s underutilized developed areas.
  • Climate change: Effectively address adverse impacts of global climate change.
  • Natural and water resources; Protect, maintain, and restore natural and water resources and ecosystems.
  • Pollution and Environmental Clean-Up: Protect the environment, prevent and clean up pollution.
  • Historic and Scenic Resources: Protect, enhance, and improve access to areas with exceptional archaeological, historic, cultural, scenic, open space, and recreational value.
  • Equity: Implement equitable planning practices to promote thriving communities for all New Jerseyans.
  • Comprehensive Planning: Foster sound and integrated planning and implementation at all levels statewide.

“Over the years, the NJTPA has done a lot of things to advance these goals,” Lane said, through its various subregional, transportation, and regional planning studies. He encouraged the agency to be engaged in the process in the coming months.

The plan includes a State Policy Map, unchanged from the previous plan, which recommends where development and preservation should occur in the state. The Smart Growth Explorer will help identify areas suitable for development and areas suitable for conservation.

Lane said the final state plan hopefully will be adopted by the end of this year.

A copy of his presentation is available here.
 

Posted: 1/17/2025 11:55:41 AM by Mark Hrywna | with 0 comments