The New (Ab)Normal – Collapse Cycle

2.3.1 land-use planning

Before informed decisions on siting and licensing of chemical installations and transport routes can be made, an overall land-use plan is very helpful. Such a plan can identify areas where chemical installations can be planned at a sufficient distance away from sensitive locations (e.g. drinking-water catchment areas) and vulnerable populations (e.g. schools). A land-use plan provides clarity as to where a licence to operate a facility or build a transport route can be considered, and where the land-use plan precludes such activity. Land-use planning legislation could include the prohibition of site facilities and transportation routes in high risk areas, such as those prone to earthquakes, avalanches or flooding.

A lack of land use planning gives you schools on top of chemical plants (see above) and densely packed houses on highly vulnerable barrier islands (see below). That’s because land use decisions, absent enforceable government planning, are made by private individuals based on markets and economics with no regard to the public interest or the environment.

Here is Gov. Christie’s vision of “land use planning” required by the NJ State Planning Act – land use planning is explicitly rejected in favor of a strategic economic growth plan:

This updated planning document is not a land-use regulatory tool, but a strategic framework to coordinate and channel public and private investments. The framework prioritizes key existing assets and industries, workforce development and retention, and infrastructure and quality of life factors, such as access to and benefits of protecting and preserving open space.[ …]

Throughout the process of developing this Plan, one message was clear: New Jersey’s past framework for statewide “land use” planning did not achieve the desired results. An integrated approach to workforce, physical and economic development in concert with strategic preservation and protection of natural resources is necessary and long overdue.