FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Friday, April 25, 2014

Christie Administration Announces Post-Sandy Planning Grant to Somers Point City

Grant Will Help Sandy-Impacted Local Government with
Long-Term Recovery and Resiliency Planning



Trenton, NJ – In the Christie Administration’s ongoing effort to promote sound, sustainable long-term recovery from Superstorm Sandy, New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III today announced the award of a $330,000 Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grant to Somers Point, Atlantic County, to put into effect comprehensive long-range plans designed to enable the City to become resilient in the event of future significant weather events.

This is the second Post-Sandy Planning Grant that Somers Point received. The City was awarded its first planning grant in October 2013, and used the $30,000 grant to complete a Strategic Recovery Planning Report, which will serve as the City’s primary guide for recovery and resiliency planning.

“We applaud Somers Point for being proactive in planning for the long-term and developing ways to make their community better able to withstand potential future natural disasters,” said Commissioner Constable, whose Department is administering many of the Sandy Recovery programs for the state. “In fact, Somers Points is among the first local governments to be awarded Phase 2 planning grants, which allow communities to drill down in their planning and address very specific challenges they are facing.”

The City’s Strategic Recovery Planning Report, which was funded by a Phase 1 Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grant, is a comprehensive planning document that contains actionable recommendations both for rebuilding the community and increasing the resilience of infrastructure and buildings, and outlines multi-year investments to increase economic development.

Somers Point will use its Phase 2 planning grant to conduct a re-examination of its Master Plan, revise its zoning ordinances, create design standards for the redevelopment of its historic district and Bay Avenue waterfront district, make infrastructure improvements for its Route 9 West neighborhood, and fund a design and marketing study for its Route 9 West business district.

The Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants are funded through Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery monies provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The $5 million program is available to each of the nine counties most impacted by Sandy as determined by HUD (Atlantic, Bergen, Cape May, Essex, Hudson, Middlesex, Monmouth, Ocean and Union) and all of the municipalities within those counties that have experienced a ratable loss of at least 1% or $1 million due to the storm.

Applications for grants are still being accepted on a first-come, first-serve basis by the DCA’s Office of Local Planning Services, which is administering the program, until all funds are exhausted.

For more information on Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants, go to http://www.nj.gov/dca/services/lps/pspag.html.

CONTACT:
Lisa Ryan
Sean Conner
(609) 292-6055