Major reforms needed to sustain redevelopment

George Hawkins
Guest Column

Could the redevelopment of New Jersey's historic cities and inner-ring suburbs grind to a halt just as it is poised for takeoff? Consider the following:

Changes to the law governing redevelopment, designed to reform the use of eminent domain, could saddle all such projects with so many additional steps and costs as to make them almost unworkable.

Approaches to the cleanup of brownfield sites, designed to eliminate the chance that contaminants could threaten schoolchildren or families, may prevent some commercial sites from coming back into productive use even if no risks are present to the public.

New Jersey courts have allowed a municipality to take land by eminent domain for open space, even if the town had zoned the land for development, and the project had been approved for needed housing or job creation.

None of the tax "reform" measures likely to be signed into law address the fundamental economic incentive almost every municipality faces to avoid approving housing for the work force.

New sales tax increases add costs to structured urban parking, while surface parking in the sprawling suburbs remains free.

In each of these areas, significant reform is needed. For example, the use of eminent domain must be more transparent, must engage the public, and must provide better housing choices for relocated families. Yet there is a legitimate concern that if these legal or regulatory changes are not carefully crafted, they could make it financially impossible for redevelopment to occur.

As the state's premier land use organization, New Jersey Future is calling for the following steps to ensure that reform takes place without threatening critical efforts to revitalize the Garden State's urban centers and older suburbs and towns:

+ Redevelopment alliance. Advocates for redevelopment need to organize into an effective and cohesive force to drive needed legislative and policy changes to support redevelopment. We foresee an historic alliance connecting community, development, municipal, business, housing and planning leaders.

+ Jersey homes, Jersey jobs, Jersey future. New Jersey must devise and adopt within six months a legislative and financial plan to create meaningful economic incentives for work force housing planned and built in urban areas and neighborhood centers. Massachusetts has shown the way on this idea and is being followed by Connecticut and New York. New Jersey should lead the pack, tying together many existing programs with some bold, yet practical, additions.

+ State planning. The state Planning Commission and Office of Smart Growth need to shift focus to identify and support planning for growth in urban areas and new neighborhood centers. The state plan must become active in targeting state programs and infrastructure expenditures to make growth happen where it should.

+ Re-energized Ombudsman. Although created by a flawed law, the position of the Smart Growth Ombudsman is a good one and this function should be resurrected and combined with an overarching effort to coordinate strategy among the many state agencies, with respect to redevelopment.

A silver bullet does exist for New Jersey. Redevelopment, following traditional neighborhood growth patterns, can deliver what we want and need in New Jersey: new jobs, new homes, energy efficiency, protected lands, replenished aquifers, revitalized neighborhoods.

Now is the time to step up and make it happen.

George Hawkins

executive director

New Jersey Future