State Strategic Planning Process

The State Strategic Planning Process is a cabinet-level effort that will result in a set of recommendations that will transform the existing statewide framework for land use planning into one that prioritizes and supports sustainable economic growth.

Current Form of the State Planning Process

The State Planning Act of 1985 defined the purpose of the State Plan to "coordinate planning activities and establish Statewide planning objectives in the following areas: land use, housing, economic development, transportation, natural resource conservation, agriculture and farmland retention, recreation, urban and suburban redevelopment, historic preservation, public facilities and services, and intergovernmental coordination." The State Plan in effect was last re-adopted in 2001 and is several years past the statutory deadline for re-adoption. Under current law, the State Plan is prepared and adopted by the State Planning Commission, consisting of 17 members representing State government, local government and the public. The Office for Planning Advocacy (OPA), formerly the Office of Smart Growth (OSG), was moved from the Department of Community Affairs (DCA) to the Department of State (DOS) through an MOU in September of 2010. As part of the Business Action Center, the OPA is charged with helping to spur economic growth through the state planning process.

Goal of this Process

The current Draft State Plan prepared for re-adoption is considered to be overly complex, leaves unresolved conflicts between various State rules/regulations and fails to prioritize and support sustainable economic growth. In addition, the circumstances and conditions faced by New Jersey at the time the Draft State Plan was developed are very different than what we face today.

The shortcomings of the Draft State Plan are in large part related to the shortcomings of the entire framework for land use planning in New Jersey. The existing State Planning Act is high on goals but leaves the actual business of decision-making to others. As such, coordination among state government activities has not been achieved for various reasons. Without reconciling existing and competing statutes and regulations, different arms of state government all too often work against one another instead of towards a common vision for New Jersey. In doing so, state government focuses too much of its limited time and resources on internal struggles and away from more important projects. In lieu of perpetuating this status quo, the Christie Administration has tasked a Steering Committee to help recast the existing state planning framework. What is the goal of this project?

The goal of the State Strategic Planning Process Project is to work with internal and external stakeholders to understand the opportunities for responsible growth and redevelopment in New Jersey and create a strategic implementation plan that capitalizes on these opportunities by better coordination of capital improvement investments and regulatory regimes of state agencies. A sustainable framework requires that we balance environmental stewardship, economic growth and social equity. A strategic vision must be in place and integrated horizontally within state government as opposed to vertical micromanagement of local land use decisions. Over time, the goals and actions of all state agencies will be aligned to be consistent with this strategic vision.

Meeting the Goals of this Process

• Identify high-value growth sectors and future trends for which New Jersey has a set of assets uniquely situated to leverage those trends for economic growth; and
• Identify the fiscal and community costs that come from the existing planning framework; and, with this information in hand…
• Identify smart growth areas where the growth sectors can flourish / expand / emerge while keeping fiscal and community costs as low as possible; and
• Identify state strategic planning issues within state government (including but not limited to capital investment, tax assessment, budget priorities & conflicting regulatory regimes) that stand in the way of sustainable economic growth; and, finally
• Evaluate the current state planning framework and budget realities and provide an assessment, highlighting its strengths and weaknesses.