Introduction to Dianne Brake and the Regional
Planning Partnership, Plainsboro, NJ for the
7/24/02 Meeting of the State Planning Commission
Because "where you stand depends on where you sit" (and who gives you the money), it is important for you to know "where I sit." In the interest of full disclosure, let me introduce my organization and myself.
I have degrees in sociology and planning and was hired at RPP in 1985, and became its President in 1990. My 17 years at RPP have focused on connecting the practice of land use planning in New Jersey to the outcomes this has on our quality of life - on transportation, affordable housing, water resources, open space, urban revitalization and the quality of the built environment. (The rumor circulated by former Commissioners that "outcomes" is my middle name, however, is not true!) In the hopes of improving that practice to get better outcomes, RPP expects the staff to explain those connections as best we can, providing useful data, tools and strategies, to those who make the decisions. It is in that capacity that I am here today.
The Regional Planning Partnership, or RPP, was formed in 1968 as a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy group. Our mission is to protect the quality of community life through sound land use planning and regional cooperation. We were then, as we are now, supported by business, municipal, county and individual membership as well as government and foundation grants. In 2002, RPP's membership is expected to bring in about $125,000 of our projected $650,000. Our 38-member Board is made up of representatives of our membership and of academic and civic institutions. Our staff includes five with professional degrees, one support staff and 2 interns.
RPP was originally called the Middlesex Somerset Mercer Regional Council, or MSM, using the 32 municipalities between the Raritan and Delaware Rivers as our study and advocacy area. In 1999, we changed our name to the Regional Planning Partnership. We changed our name because our Board and members recognized that our mission could and should be applied throughout the State. We continue, however, our special relationship with central New Jersey.
RPP has always been active in state planning, and we were active in the shaping of the 1986 State Planning Act. I was appointed to the State Planning Commission and became the Chair of the Plan Implementation Committee in 1996 and served until January 2002. RPP continues to support the Commission and its work to produce an effective State Development and Redevelopment Plan and implementation process.
Recent and current project funding comes from the following sources: Schumann Fund for NJ for the Urban Growth Targets Project; NJDEP for managing WMA 11; NJDEP (thru' DVRPC) for managing the Land Use/Action Now Committee of WMA 20; Smart Growth Planning Grant (thru' Mercer County) for developing a County Highway Access Code/Plan; Smart Growth Planning Grant (thru' Somerset County) for developing a Strategic Smart Growth County Plan; NJDOT for contributions to the Central Jersey Transportation Forum; USEPA for a Sustainable Development Partnership Grant; Rutgers' National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfields Redevelopment and from the Great Swamp Watershed Association for licensing agreements for RPP's GOZ® build-out model.
Besides state planning, RPP is also active in many member-funded issues,
including the promotion of TDR, new transit services, regional planning
and property tax reform. I am the Secretary of the Coalition for Affordable
Housing and the Environment; RPP is a founding member of the New Jersey
Regional Coalition, which has hired Myron Orfield to undertake an analysis
of social and racial equity issues in New Jersey.
In 1984, RPP established the Greater Mercer TMA, the first private transportation
management association on the East Coast. In 1987, with four other groups,
RPP set up the Delaware & Raritan Greenway as the region's land trust.
In 1989, with a number of other groups and individuals, RPP set up New
Jersey Future. In 1999, RPP invented a Goal-Oriented Zoning framework,
which provides a Smart Growth alternative to existing zoning that better
reflects the State Plan. In 2001, RPP rolled out GOZ®, a unique new
tool for undertaking a build-out analysis and impact assessment to compare
existing zoning and Goal-Oriented Zoning scenarios.
It was RPP's 1987 Action Agenda for Managing Regional Growth that provided the framework for the center-based vision that is at the heart of both the first and the second State Plans. We are very proud of that. Today RPP offers you an action agenda and some new tools that we feel will jumpstart the implementation of that vision.