DEPARTMENT OF REGIONAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT

The first meeting for the Steering Committee for the Atlantic County Strategic Growth Planning Study was held on June 26, 2001 at 10:00 am in Classroom 3 of the Tony Canale Training Center in Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey.   John Peterson, Deputy Director for Atlantic County Department of Regional Planning & Development, chaired this meeting.

The meeting started with introductions between the various attendees.  John then explained why and how the study was initiated – it is a response to the preparation of the most recent State Development and Redevelopment Plan (State Plan).  The purpose of this study is to perform a capacity analysis of all the municipalities and help each municipality utilize the recommendations produced from this study to achieve the best growth ("smart" growth) possible.

Eventually the County will be presenting the findings and recommendations from this study to the New Jersey Office of State Planning (OSP) for "Plan Endorsement."  Plan Endorsement is a process that OSP uses to evaluate County and/ or individual municipal master plans and determine if the master plans have achieved a level of consistency with the State Plan.  If a municipality or county has been awarded a Plan Endorsement for their master plan from OSP, state agencies such as the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection can prioritize projects in these areas for available state funding.

The purpose of the Steering Committee is to provide input, ideas, and critique the information, analysis, and recommendations produced by the County.  The Steering Committee will also discuss issues important to the municipalities or other agencies represented.  Information from these Steering Committee meetings will be available on the County's website for public comment and input.

The Strategic Growth Plan consists of several components.  These components include - data collection (zoning information, demographics, land cover, areas with sewer and water, etc.), analysis and review of the data collected, public participation through three (3) public meetings, and production of a report or "plan."  The County's Strategic Growth Plan will contain various planning alternatives and possible effects that these planning alternatives would have.  One of the areas that this Plan will attempt to address is how to accommodate the influx of people that will be a direct result of the next wave of casino growth and redevelopment.  Again, the County anticipates presentation of their findings to OSP for Plan Endorsement of the County's Growth Management Plan.

An issue raised by the County is the unique situation that is happening in Atlantic County with regard to the Casino Industry.  The Office of State Planning model bases their population and employment projections on the number of housing units available, this is backwards for our region which grows based on casino employment and spinoff jobs in the support and service sectors.

Questions and concerns that were raised by the members of the Steering Committee included:

• Development of a "consensus plan" with the Pinelands on the Pinelands growth issues.
• The loss of a consumer base for small businesses in communities that do not have larger "regional shopping facilities."
• Capacity of current stormwater systems.
• Other counties have prepared "regional plans" - the Route 130 Corridor Plan in Burlington County and the Waterfront Development Plan in Hudson County.  Has anyone reviewed these plans to determine if there are plans or concepts that could also be used by Atlantic County?
• Could a plan be developed to identify individual sites that have been "abandoned" or are currently vacant due to relocation of businesses and target these sites for redevelopment or adaptive re-use?
• "Quality of Life" issues need to be reviewed particularly with a focus on how these issues may be affected over the next ten (10) to twenty (20) years as the area continues to grow.  Municipalities must decide what "form" any future development should take - rural, a neo-traditional community, small town or village, suburb, or urbanized area.
• Traffic and congestion is a major concern.
• Will there be an adequate supply of labor (workers) and housing to meet the demands of the next wave of Casino redevelopment?
• Educational impacts from development and our current system of funding schools - property taxes.
• The State Plan advocates for the placement of housing in very close proximity to employment.  This really doesn't occur in Atlantic County.  The casinos supply many of the jobs in the region, but the cost of developing market housing in Atlantic City is not economically feasible, tremendous subsidies have been required for projects like the north inlet and other affordable housing. Are additional CRDA funding / mandates required to achieve this development pattern?

The meeting was adjourned.  The Steering Committee will meet again in August 2001.