Somerset County

Smart Growth Strategic Plan

 December 2003 Project Summary 

The goal of this multi-phased project is to create a County Smart Growth Strategic Plan that provides an overall regional planning framework and addresses geographic, area-specific planning issues.  The plan will serve to update and expand upon the County Master Plan adopted in 1987 and the Master Plan Re-examination Report of 1998.  It will be coordinated with the State Plan Cross-acceptance Process and ongoing state, regional and local smart growth initiatives, and will meet the requirements for Endorsement by the State Planning Commission.   

Analytical and modeling tools, as well as an extensive community involvement effort, will be utilized to enhance and inform the planning process.  The plan will include countywide and sub-area specific vision statements, guiding principles, objectives and implementation strategies.  It also will include indicators for measuring progress in attaining plan goals.  It will be supported by a build-out and impact analyses; 3- system capacity and needs assessments; and growth targets.   

This project involves a unique partnership approach that engages the resources and professional expertise of Schoor DePalma, Inc, the National Center for Neighborhood and Brownfield Redevelopment at Rutgers University (NCNBR), Regional Planning Partnership, Inc. (RPP), the Office of State Planning and Somerset County Planning Staff. 

Phase I commenced in December 2001 and was completed in June 2003. Funding for Phase I ($100,000) was provided by the Somerset County Board of Chosen Freeholders.  Phases II & III work commenced in December 2003 and shall be completed in 18 - 24 months.  Phase II and III professional consultant services are being funded through a $ 250,000 New Jersey Department of Community Affairs’ Smart Growth Planning Grant.  The Somerset County Planning Board is providing additional in-kind technical and administrative support throughout the project. 

MAJOR WORK PRODUCTS – PHASE I

·         Preparation of GIS zoning and new developed land GIS datasets needed to support countywide and sub-area build-out and impact analysis modeling tools initiated by NCNBR.  (Further enhancement and utilization of these datasets will take place by NCNBR during Phase II).

·         Extensive, multifaceted community involvement process implemented, including webpage, guiding principles community survey, project steering committee, sub-area advisory groups, focus group interview sessions and public kick-off and wrap-up events.  This process will be summarized in a public response document. 

·         Completion of a County Profile Report and Draft Planning Coordination Report

·         Development of Guiding Principles and Planning Objectives

MAJOR WORK PRODUCTS - PHASES II & III

·         Continuation of community involvement process established during Phase I

·         Completion of build-out and impact analyses, and scenario testing, using CommunityViz Model

·         Preparation of 3-system capacity analyses and needs assessments

·         Preparation of municipal population, housing and employment growth targets

·         Advanced plan coordination and comparison work, presented in final report

·         Indicators, benchmarks and targets for measuring plan implementation progress, including guidelines for monitoring and reporting on progress

·         Development of plan implementation agenda

·         Draft and final Somerset County Strategic Smart Growth Plan including 3-systems Plan Maps, which meet the requirements of Plan Endorsement and completion of web-based Citizens Guide