‘As painless as possible’

New Jersey has released a preliminary draft for a new State Development and Redevelopment Plan – last updated in 2001 – that is expected to be ratified in December.

As part of the process, Walter C. Lane, executive director of the state’s Office of Planning Advocacy, held a public meeting on March 25 at Rowan College of South Jersey’s Deptford campus.

“We are having public meetings in all 21 counties,” Lane said. “This is county number 17. We hope to have the planning commission adopt the final state plan by mid-December.”

Every town in New Jersey has to provide information about future housing developments, infrastructure needs and plans for open space to their respective counties, which will then provide the information to the state.

“We will go through it in June and July and have a revised draft plan by the end of August,” noted Lane, pointing out that there will then be more public meetings before final ratification.

The 2021 plan had eight goals, and the new proposed plan includes two more: climate change, which includes de-carbonization and addressing coastal flooding along rivers and the Atlantic Ocean, and equity and environmental justice, he added.

Other goals are economic development, housing, infrastructure, revitalizing and re-centering underutilized communities, protecting natural and water resources, addressing pollution and environmental cleanup, preserving historic and scenic resources and comprehensive statewide planning goals up to the year 2050.

Lane also said the State Plan Policy Map will again be updated, and that the New Jersey Business Action Center (NJBAC) has provided a smart growth explorer tool to make it easier for towns and counties to provide the needed information to the state by the end of May.

“We want to make this as painless as possible for the towns,” he explained. “The goal of the NJBAC is to help all businesses – small, medium and large – and to ensure a thriving economy for our state.”

One member of the Rowan audience said the request for the information usually goes to the mayor and asked that the state give communities a “to-do list.” The proposed plan lists the county as slow growing, according to Gloucester County Assistant Engineer Bill Fleming.

“That is not true,” he argued. “We are fast growing with many housing developments.”

After asking Lane to change that designation, Fleming also requested that the state address more thoroughly a rise in sea level, calling it “the most existential issue facing New Jersey.” He said an increase of 1- to 1-and-a-half-feet in sea level elevation would be catastrophic.

“The impacts for coastal areas would be staggering,” he warned, “and will have an impact on the marshes and wetlands.”

The 2001 update to the state plan was followed years later by a preliminary draft of the new update unveiled in December of 2024. It sought to address climate change, equity, housing, infrastructure and economic development.

The plan is now in the cross-acceptance process, Lane said, which compares statewide planning policies at government levels to attain a high level of consistency among municipal, county, regional and state plans. Various stakeholders can partner to create a more meaningful and viable plan to ensure municipal, county, and regional master plans are taken into consideration during the process.

Lane pointed out that the state plan will reflect current planning principles and best practices in the areas of land use, transportation, housing, environmental protection and enhancement, economic development, provision of public infrastructure, historic preservation, social justice and adaptation to global climate change.

The plan is not designed to overrule, negate or interfere with existing plans or regulations in communities, but is intended to provide guidance and foster collaboration among stakeholders. 

For more information, visit https://nj.gov/state/planning/index.shtml.