MTR 268, Small Strides Toward Smart Growth in NJ

Issue 268

May 5, 2000

Small Strides Toward Smart Growth in NJ

With a bow toward the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, Governor Christie Whitman suspended construction of a new Division of Revenue building in suburban Hamilton Township last Thursday, and asked Dept. of Treasury officials to work with Trenton planners on appropriate city locations. An 855-space parking lot was planned for the Hamilton site, which is not accessible by transit. 500 full-time and 400 part-time employees would have had to drive to work. In contrast, Trenton's down-town business and government buildings are easily reached on foot or by bus from a rail station that is a hub for both the NJ Transit and SEPTA.

In a May 4th editorial, the Bergen Record hailed the Governor's decision as "a win for the cities," asking "if the state isn't willing to follow its own master development plan, why should anyone else?"

Sewer Policy a Model for Highways

During a speech to a Princeton University audience on NJ DEP's new, tighter sewer construction regulations, Governor Whitman remarked that the controversial 3.5 million square-foot Merrill Lynch office park in Hopewell Township is "a prime example of the kind of thing that probably would not have happened with the new rules." The 450-acre development on former farmland launched rural Hopewell to the top of the list for office space construction state-wide last year.

Governor Whitman announced that all new sewer line and septic expansions would be held to more rigorous land use and pollution standards in her January State of the State speech (MTR #262). The Governor's office, members of the State Planning Commission, and environmentalists all have stated that the new regulations should be explicitly linked to the objectives identified in the State Plan, but how remains unclear. NJ DEP is scheduled to release the rewritten strictures in June.

The Whitman Administration could put even more force behind its goal of protecting open space and redeveloping its cities by developing guidelines in the pending Transportation Trust Fund reauthorization similar to the new sewer rules for road construction (see previous article).