"We had a sense of urgency about adopting and implementing this plan," commission chairman Joseph Maraziti said late last week at the public meeting at which the vote was taken. The lone dissenter was David Fisher, who is also the only commissioner actually in the development business.

With commission approval of the plan, observers say the onus now falls on the state's top elected officials. As Barbara Lawrence of the New Jersey Future, a non-profit economic development group, told attendees at the meeting, "the spotlight has clearly shifted to the governor and legislature."

That's because the plan departs from the earlier one by emphasizing incentives for developers to build in cities and suburbs while leaving open space alone. Incentives covering everything from adaptive re-use to brownfield redevelopment still have to be enacted--hence the focus on the governor and legislature.

This next stage is also expected to become a hot political issue--this is a gubernatorial election year, and acting governor Donald DiFrancesco faces a tough campaign amid charges of impropriety regarding loans for his family's real estate business. For his part, DiFrancesco has directed his policy staff to get to work on crafting the incentives. The plan also calls for the state to pour money into infrastructure improvements in urban and suburban areas to support further growth.

Other issues on the table include anti-growth sentiment in many of the designated development areas. That leads to the most controversial issue of all--home rule. To assuage concerns that the state will take away local decision-making power, DiFrancesco told the audience at the commission meeting that "the state is more effective as a partner than as a policeman. We believe more in the power of incentives than in the weight of restrictions."

The state's League of Municipalities issued a statement supporting the plan, but only if it remains advisory and doesn't cross the line of home rule.

Instant Insights /

State Commission Okays Updated Growth Plan to Discourage Sprawl

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