Since 1968, we have been leading the way for smart growth and planning in New Jersey, operating under three names:

PlanSmart NJ – 2007-present
The Regional Planning Partnership (RPP) - 1999 – 2007
or Middlesex Somerset Mercer Regional Council (MSM) - 1968 – 1999

The publications and white papers you read here may have been written under an earlier name, but they all represent the same organization and important mission.

The Board and staff of PlanSmart NJ, the new name of the Regional Planning Partnership, have been evaluating public policy and advocating proposals for change since we were established in 1968. Although many of those positions are still relevant to today's issues, PlanSmart NJ has not had the resources to prepare many of these documents for the web. The letters, statements, speeches and articles posted here are recent, but do not represent the full range of PlanSmart NJ's positions. For more information about PlanSmart NJ positions, see the Core Issues section.

If you have any questions regarding any of PlanSmart NJ's positions - whether you see them posted here or not - please do not hesitate to get in touch with us, either through e-mail, or by phone at (609) 393-9434.

 

Equity

• The Case for the Regional Equity Goal
• Letter to Assemblyman John J. Burzichelli

Land Use Planning

Local Planning

• Letter to Hopewell re: Sewer Plan 1998
• Statement on Hopewell's Sewer Service Plan 1998
• Local Role in Cross Acceptance 1998
• The Pitfalls of Downzoning 2002

Regional Planning

• Comments on Draft Highlands Master Plan
• BPU Rules
• Conditional Veto of S1368/A3008: Permit Streamlining in Smart Growth Areas
• RPP supports the Highlands Water Protection and Preservation Act
• County Role in Cross Acceptance 1998
• State Planning Rules, Proposed Amendments N.J.A.C 5:85

Statewide Planning

• COAH/State Planning Commission Memorandum of Understanding
• Speech to State Planning Commission 1998
• State Planning Implementation Agenda 2000
• Memo to State Planning Commission on Priorities 2001
• Letter to the Governor on Closing the Office of State Planning 2002
• Planning by Numbers - Presentation to State Planning Commission 7/24/02
• Position on the State Plan

Transportation

Energy

• Global Warming Response Act
• Comments on Energy Master Plan

• Greenhouse Gas Emissions Targets

Congestion

• Congestion Gets Us Nowhere!2003

Transit

• Strategic Plan for New Jersey
• The South Jersey Light Rail Line 1999

Access Management

• Changes to the Access Code 12/13/02
• Changes to the Access Code 12/18/02

Highway Improvements

• Route 92 DEIS
• Comments on the Draft Environmental Impact Assessment of the Penns Neck Area Improvements
• Protect the Elms 1996
• Urban Design for Route 29 1998
• Route 92 Scoping Hearing 1999
• Support for the Penns Neck By-Pass 2000
• Against Easy Rhetoric 2000
• Why Route 92 is consistent with Smart Growth 2003
• Transit Villages 2006

Financing Transportation

• Support for the Transportation Trust Fund 1995

Environment

• Suggestions for the Permit Efficiency Review Task Force
• Water
  • WQMP Rules
  • Management Planning is Key, not "Frivolous"
  • Lost Water: The Drought, Development and Detention Basins
  • Strengthening Watershed Planning
  • Water Quality and Watershed Management Rules (NJAC 7:15)
    • Letter to Governor Whitman
    • Letter to Gary J. Brower, Esq.
  • Implementation of Septic Rule (NJAC 7:15-8)
  • Letter to DEP on New Watershed Rule 2002
• Open Space
• Support Open Space Ballot Question 1998
• Support Open Space Legislation 1999

Affordable Housing

• PlanSmart NJ’s Testimony on Regional Contribution Agreements A-500
• Proposed amendment to NJAC 5:94-4.4(c) and NJAC 5:94-2.3 (c)
• Comments on Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) Ruling
• Housing and Growth in New Jersey: The Case for a Comprehensive Statewide Policy
• Comments on the COAH Rules
• Proposal disregards affordable housing needs
• COAH Third Round Policy Issues and Rules
• Friend of the Court Brief Filed in Toll Brothers vs. Township of West Windsor
  • map
• Housing and Jobs Bond Act 1998
• Toll Bros. v. West Windsor 1999
• Board Memo on Toll Bros. amicus 2001

Governance

• Presentation to LUARC
• Fundamental Property Tax Reform – 2008
• Property Tax Testimony
  • Testimony
  • NJ Tax Base Sharing Regional Maps
  • NJ Reduction of Millionaire Tax Regional Maps
  • Maps of Tax Base Sharing for Contributing and Receiving Towns
  • Maps of NJ Aid from Millionaire Tax
  • Maps of Percentage Change in Tax Base Sharing
  • NJ Revenue Capacity of Schools Maps
• RPP Supports Tax Reform in New Jersey to Achieve Smart Growth Goals
• Death and Taxes 7/96
• Abbott v. Burke Amicus
• Board Memo on Timed Growth Ordinances 1998
• Brake Speech at the November 15 Property Tax Reform Symposium 2002
• Byrne Speech at the November 15 Property Tax Reform Symposium 2002
• Summary of November 15 Property Tax Reform Symposium 2002
• Comments Made to Whitman Commission on Property Tax Reform 1998
• Board Memo on Property Tax Reform and Constitutional Convention 2002
• Constitutional Convention on Tax Reform 2002

Economic Development

• Redevelopment: Amendments to the RAD, UTHTCA
• Hearing on the Permit Extension Act: A-2867
• On the Benefits of Urban Suburban Partnerships 1996

RPP Letters in Support of Projects

• Support for Sourland Mountains Smart Growth Grant
• 2004 American Planning Association Award Nomination: Chesterfield Township TDR Program/Old York Village Plan
• Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area

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