Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition

PlanSmart NJ was asked to join a coalition of groups who were building a package of legislative initiatives to revise laws and regulations to support redevelopment efforts in places around the state that have been identified as being the right places to grow. Because PlanSmart NJ has always supported redevelopment, and because our Smart Growth Economy Project had identified the many regulatory obstacles to redevelopment, the decision to join was an easy one. PlanSmart NJ’s Board supported joining to make sure we had a voice at the table, influencing from within the group the proposals they would make.

The group, the Smart Growth Economic Development Coalition, promoted as its first bill a Permit Extension Act. PlanSmart NJ had never before supported this type of action, and environmental groups with whom we have worked on many other issues, were adamantly opposed to it. Our Smart Growth Economy Project, however, had revealed to us how serious New Jersey’s economic crisis was. We knew that this recession may not be just a cyclical downturn: New Jersey’s economy was in danger of Rust Belt-like obsolescence. We supported the Permit Extension Act as a measure that would ensure that the recession would be as short as possible. We intend to use the time to ensure that land use reforms are enacted that will support better environmental and economic outcomes.