Local Planning
Downtown Millville during their monthly Third Friday event. Source: NJSLOM
In New Jersey, the power to plan and zone for development is largely in the hands of the state’s 565 municipalities.
The Municipal Land Use Law (NJSA 40:55D-1) grants towns the power to enact a master plan to set land-use priorities and direction, as well as adopt a zoning ordinance to dictate where and in what form development should happen, all with the purpose of protecting the health, safety and welfare of citizens. The local zoning administrator, as well as the volunteer planning and zoning board members, have the responsibility to interpret and enforce the community’s master plan and zoning ordinance. Because development impacts do not stop at municipal borders, it is important to provide communities with the necessary guidance, tools, laws and regulations to make sound land-use decisions that reflect the broader planning context.
The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) recently released a 2015 update of its land use / land cover data set. The LU/LC dataset offers a periodic snapshot of how and where New Jersey both uses and preserves its land.
New Jersey Future recently facilitated an implementation workshop in collaboration with aging-friendly coordinators from Westwood Borough, Teaneck Township and Ridgewood Village.
Builders at the Atlantic Builders Convention took a good deal of interest in best practices and benefits of green stormwater management techniques. Proposed new rules will require its use.
New Jersey Future Executive Director Pete Kasabach has sent a letter to Governor Murphy urging him to sign the Clean Stormwater and Flood Reduction Act, which would permit local government entities to establish stormwater management utilities.
New Jersey Future submitted comments on proposed changes to the NJDEP’s stormwater management rules, praising the emphasis on green infrastructure and offering recommendations for making the rule clearer and more effective.
This report identifies strategies to lower both cost and risk in redevelopment projects, as redevelopment increasingly becomes the norm for accommodating growth in New Jersey. January 2016.
In this report, New Jersey Future analyzed housing affordability in each New Jersey municipality, to see where households headed by someone 65 or older have high housing costs. The places where housing cost burden is greatest fall into two groups: towns that are expensive for everyone, and towns that are dominated by larger, single-family housing stock. December 2015.
In this report, New Jersey Future and Smart Growth America analyzed per-capita road usage. The results show that places with the highest activity density have the lowest per-capita usage, suggesting per-capita road-maintenance costs can be reduced by even marginal increases in density. November 2015.
A one-hour webinar explaining a new, parcel-based tool that assesses financial vulnerability to coastal flooding and sea-level rise. Friday, May 15, 2015, noon – 1:00 pm.
An interim report, three years after Hurricane Sandy, on New Jersey Future’s groundbreaking local recovery planning manager program, including lessons learned and recommendations. October 2015.
See all Future Facts and Articles in this category »
Reports, Presentations and Testimony
- NJM May 2019 stormwater utlities Van Abs
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Phase 2 Report 5-22-18
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Phase 2 Report appendices 5-22-18
- New Jersey Future Aging-Friendly Communities Initiative report Ridgewood 8-3-18
- New Jersey Future Aging-Friendly Communities Initiative report Westwood 7-16-18
- New Jersey Future Aging-Friendly Communities Initiative report Teaneck 2-5-19
- New Jersey Future Aging-Friendly Communities Initiative report Somerdale 1-31-19
- 02/01/2019: Comments on Phase 1 Stormwater Rule Amendment
- Trenton Transit Center Strategic Action Blueprint July 2018
- New Jersey Future Non-Contiguous Cluster Report August 2017
- Mystic Island HIA Report 6-7-16
- APA Conference Places To Age Best Practices
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Project Report Appendix 6
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Project Report Appendix 4
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Project Report Appendix 3 Figures
- New Jersey Future Resilient Coastal Communities Project Report 2017
- New Jersey Future Demographic Trends by Age September 2017
- Oxford Byway to Destination NJM June 2017
- New-Jersey-Future-Assessment-of-the-NJLIHTC-program
- New Jersey Future 2017 Gubernatorial Platform
- Little Egg Harbor Township Vulnerability Assessment Report 02-2015
- Strategic Recovery Planning Report Maurice River 05-2015
- Strategic Recovery Planning Report Commercial 12-2015
- League of Municipalities Article on Aging in Community April 2016
- New Jersey Future Redeveloping the Norm 01-16 (Intern Report)
- New Jersey Future Housing Affordability and Aging-Friendly Communities
- Housing Affordability and Aging-Friendly Communities Housing Cost-Burden Municipal Data by Municipality
- Housing Affordability and Aging-Friendly Communities Housing Cost-Burden Municipal Data by Cost Burden Rank
- fiscal-implications-roads-in-new-jersey
- NJFuture-In-Deep-10-15-WEB
- Sample Local Recovery Planning Manager Resolution of Engagement
- Sample Local Recovery Planning Manager Memorandum of Agreement
- Risk analysis public mtg presentation Tuckerton-Little Egg Harbor 4-14-15
- Strategic Recovery Planning Report Tuckerton 4-15-15
- Local Recovery Planning Manager Scope of Services Tuckerton-Little Egg Harbor 1-31-14
- Can We Depend on Our Water Infrastructure?
- 2014-11-18_Trenton Green Infrastructure Feasibility Study.compressed
- Sea Bright exposure analysis
- Trenton_Meeting_Summary_FINAL
- New Jersey Future Stormwater Utilities Report 9-14 (Intern Report)
- PINELANDS_WEB_8_4_14-1
- New Jersey Future Van Abs 2014 Pinelands Growth Area Water Assessment
- Agenda for Change
- 03/05/2014: Sandy Action Plan Amendment Planning Letter
- Creating Great Places To Age in New Jersey
- Creating Places To Age in New Jersey Municipal Best Practices
- Creating Places To Age in New Jersey municipal data
- Creating Places To Age Bergen-Passaic Supplement
- NJFuture Cluster Presentation I Open for Municipalities
- Social Innovation and Smart Growth 9-13 (Intern Report)
- Somerset County Investment Framework 1-13 (Intern Report)
- Targeting Transit -- New Jersey Future
- Innovation Districts as Economic Growth Strategy 9-12 (Intern Report)
- 05-2009 Smart Housing Incentives Act - Summary
- Case Studies of Non-Contiguous Clustering in New Jersey 04-12
- Cluster Presentation - NJ Farm Bureau 1-4-2012
- Financial Benefits of Density in Two New Jersey Downtowns 7-11 (Intern report)
- Assessment of Solar Siting in New Jersey 5-11 (Intern report)
- Route 1 Planning Through Partnerships
- ShapingNJ Community Pilot Meeting Overview 06-09-11
- Case Studies in Transfer of Development Rights 8-10 (Intern report)
- Transit-Oriented Development Workshop for HCDNNJ memb mtg 06-15-2011
- Case Study Hopewell Township 08-00
- A Citizen's Guide to Transit-Oriented Development
