In 1997, the New Jersey Legislature appropriated $250,000 for the Pinelands Rural Economic Development Pilot Program. The goal of the program is to help rural Pinelands municipalities identify and plan for types of economic development that are compatible with the Pinelands Comprehensive Management Plan (CMP). While implementation of the CMP has achieved considerable success in protecting ecologically sensitive lands and channeling growth towards more suitable locations, certain types of economic development activities are either expressly or effectively prohibited in the more rural areas by environmental and land use requirements. In addition, these communities do not have the same economic development opportunities as many surrounding areas because:

• Population and employment bases are low
• Transportation centers and networks are limited (although summer beach traffic increases volume through certain communities)
• Local governments frequently cannot accommodate the financial and personnel resources required to support extensive planning and economic development initiatives
• Substantial commercial services and employment opportunities are within 20-30 miles of most Pinelands locations.

The legislation directed the Pinelands to create a pilot program to research and test viable economic development opportunities for communities in limited growth areas, and to design implementation strategies for compatible types of development. At the conclusion of the pilot program, the Commission will submit a report to the Legislature.

Pilot Program Overview

The pilot program structured by the Pinelands Commission is based on the creation of municipal partnerships to explore development opportunities. Earlier this year, the Commission invited the most rural Pinelands municipalities to submit requests to participate in the pilot program. A total of 11 requests were received from which the following municipalities were selected: Buena Vista Township, Dennis Township, Mullica Township, and Woodbine Borough. In addition, Washington and Bass River Townships were invited to serve on a task force as part of Mullica's effort to address development opportunities along the Routes 542 & 9 Preservation Area Corridor. Dennis Township also invited Maurice River Township to join its effort. These municipalities will take part in all aspects of the pilot program and receive a nominal amount of funding to help cover expenses associated with participating in the program and follow-up implementation activities. Findings and results of the pilot program will be shared with all Pinelands municipalities. In the future, the Commission hopes to expand the program to other municipalities, pending receipt of additional funding.

The Commission also hired a consulting firm, Whiteman & Taintor, to work intensely with each of the communities throughout the pilot program. The firm brings national expertise in rural and small community economic development and planning issues. Whiteman & Taintor will lead the participating municipalities through a process designed to assess community strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats; develop an inventory of Pinelands economic development opportunities; analyze municipal markets, and; develop implementation strategies and promotional materials. Staff members at the Pinelands Commission will coordinate the overall effort, assist in compiling background data, and develop strategies for expedited application review.

Start-Up Activities

In late August, the Pinelands Commission kicked off the Pilot Program with a series of public workshops in each of the participating municipalities. Approximately 160 people attended these workshops, which were structured to address the following questions:

1. Why does the community want economic development?
2. What kind of development does the community want (or not want)?
3. What are the community's strengths and weaknesses with respect to development?

In addition to the workshops, numerous one-on-one interviews were held with local entrepreneurs, business owners, long-time residents, economic development committees, and other individual community leaders, to help identify potential economic development opportunities and needs.

Based on the information from the workshops and community interviews, areas of focus were defined to guide subsequent analyses for each community. Focus areas have either a geographic basis (e.g., a commercial corridor) or a business-sector basis (e.g., eco-tourism). To gain more local insight into each area, Whiteman & Taintor facilitated a series of in-depth discussions (also called focus groups) during September and October. Focus groups participants included business owners, entrepreneurs, residents, and other individuals with knowledge of, and interest in, the area under discussion.

Regional & Local Analyses

After completing the workshops and focus groups, quantitative data on local demographics, economies, tax bases, and other key socio-economic indicators (e.g., educational attainment of residents) was compiled and analyzed. The resulting community profiles provide a snapshot of local conditions and were distributed to the communities.

Additional research and analysis were then undertaken to address the specific economic development opportunities and constraints in each of the focus areas. The focus areas for each community, development options, and preliminary recommendations are summarized below for each community.

Woodbine Town Center & Airport Development
Town Center

• Mix of uses to support residents, non-resident workforce, local businesses, visitors
• Develop a theme and a focus
  • Specialty downtown related to home improvement
  • Historic industrial community
  • Jewish pioneers
• Retail and services center
• Physical improvements to buildings and streetscape
  • Sidewalks and street lighting
  • Building facade improvements
  • Landscaping
  • Parking
  • Signage
• Creation/enhancement of public spaces
  • Community festivals on DeHirsch, Lincoln Park, vacant Borough land
  • Rail trail development

Airport

• Airport Business Park
  • Gentilini Ford and Campark Liquors are existing businesses
  • Warehousing and light manufacturing (no sewer)
  • Restaurants, motels, banquet facility (sewer)
  • Medical facilities and professional offices
  • Market demand for manufacturing and food processing
• Corporate Center
  • 18-hole golf course and clubhouse
  • Meeting space

Building Trades Park

• Business incubator services
• Link to nearby trade schools
• Special zoning designation and pre-review by Pinelands Commission
• Connection with casino service industry (e.g., set designers)

Wastewater Treatment Options

• Necessary for economic development strategy
  • Small lots in Town Center contribute to character
  • Supports redevelopment and investment
  • Encourage Airport Business Park development
  • Increased density and market demand will contribute to the tax base
• Options to consider
  • Connection to State Developmental Center
  • Construct a separate package treatment plant to service the Town Center
  • Explore off-site dilution options for Town Center

Mullica River Preservation Area Corridor
Marketing Theme

• Mullica River Heritage Corridor
  • Range of experiences: seacoast history and environmental interpretation to the role of the river in settlement patterns
  • Build a coalition of public land managers and private businesses
  • Access points to the river convey the story of the Mullica River
• Corridor extends from Tuckerton Seaport to Batsto
  • Existing attractions serve as gateways

Marketing Strategy

• Joint marketing efforts
  • NJ Division of Travel and Tourism
  • New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail (Scenic Byway designation)
  • Tuckerton Seaport
  • Atlantic City tourism office (day trips)
  • State facilities: Batsto Village, Bass River State Forest, Wharton State Forest
• Develop an interpretive tour

Facility Development

• Improve existing assets
  • Increase funding for State facilities
  • Pursue options with Viking Yacht to host public tours
  • Work with the Lower Bank boatyard to include tourist-related services
• New Gretna
  • Plan for the use of Township-owned land
  • Streetscape improvements
  • Establish a visitors center for the corridor
  • Establish a revolving loan fund for local businesses to pursue facade and site improvements
• Wastewater
  • Install a wastewater treatment system in New Gretna

Evaluate septic system constraints in Green Bank, Lower Bank and Sweetwater; consider Mullica River Utility Authority to manage small wastewater treatment facilities

Dennis/Maurice River Ecotourism
Marketing Theme

• Headwaters Recreation Area (or other appropriate theme)

Headwaters for creeks and rivers flowing to the Shore

• • Emphasizes different experience from the Shore
  • End of Route 55 to Routes 49/47 as a gateway
• Image
  • Promote the area for ecotourism and heritage tourism resources
  • More affordable than Cape May, less developed and more rustic
  • Promote area as a "base camp"

Marketing Strategy

• Joint marketing efforts
  • NJ Division of Travel and Tourism
  • New Jersey Coastal Heritage Trail (Scenic Byway designation)
  • Tuckerton Seaport
  • Atlantic City tourism office (day trips)
  • State facilities: Batsto Village, Bass River State Forest, Wharton State Forest
• Develop brochures, marketing sheets, a list of related services (lodging, restaurants), maps and a calendar of events

Organize festivals and community promotional events

Facility Development

• Belleplain State Forest
  • Central destination and feature
  • Trail system within Forest linked to other areas
  • Improve funding in order to serve as an information source
• Dennisville
  • Historic hub of the ecotourism strategy
  • Pursue infrastructure investments such as streetlighting, sidewalks, public restrooms, and parking areas
  • Pursue the construction of a new railroad station
• Gateway development and visitor resources
  • Develop a visitor center in Maurice River near the intersection of Route 55 and Routes 49/47
  • Establish centralized hubs in Leesburg, Woodbine and Dennisville to serve as information sources and provide supporting services
  • Develop trails, interpretive sites and related improvements
  • Provide wastewater treatment service in appropriate areas to encourage desirable business development and public facilities
• Business Development
  • Promote business development that complements the ecotourism strategy (e.g., outdoor outfitters)
  • Promote the development of bed and breakfasts, inns, small hotels, and restaurants to encourage overnight stays

Encourage small business development in Dennisville consistent with the residential historic character

Buena Vista Pinelands Town Area - Routes 40/54
Key Issues

Regional location means that businesses tend to choose sites in nearby communities, with equivalent access, better infrastructure, and less stringent regulations

• Wastewater treatment is essential for meaningful tax base expansion

• Community character objectives need to be defined before economic development strategies are implemented

Land Use Options

• Light industry/office
  • Redevelopment with sewer service
  • Focus on light industry and office
  • Retail in high visibility areas only
  • Small apartments (no or few children)
• Mixed use
  • Establish a place or center
  • Village/pedestrian oriented development with senior housing and services
  • Light industry and office
  • Pedestrian systems
  • Supports tourism

Wastewater Options

• Buena Borough
  • Provide service to western edge of area
  • Allows for short-term development
  • Limit volume to 50,000 gpd
• Package plants (2 separate facilities)
  • Serve elementary school and adjacent parcels (50,000 gpd)

Serve area near Wilmad Glass (100,000 gpd)

Route 40 Improvements

• Install sidewalks and develop a trail system; pursue streetscape improvements
• Consider realigning Cumberland Road/Route 40 intersection and extending a new road into the area northeast of Route 54/40 intersection
• Consider widening Route 40 to provide a turning lane
• Consider reverse frontage roads in limited areas

Public Investments

• Create a public nature interpretation area in the wetlands north of Route 40
• Build an interpretive center/visitor center near the Township Hall focus on the Pinelands' agricultural heritage and economy
• Create a farmers market
• Incorporate a public-accessible recreation center within senior housing developments

Marketing

• Work with pharmaceutical and related companies to promote supporting business development
• Work with regional economic development organizations to promote Buena Vista
• Hold a design competition to develop design plans for a senior-oriented development

Develop an experimental garden near the senior area

Mullica Route 30 Corridor
Key Issues

• Extensive supply of land zoned to accommodate economic development, and for exceeding likely demand in next 10 years
• Lack of a clear image or direction for development along the corridor

Opportunity to use infrastructure to promote more efficient use of land and to guide development

Land Use Options

• Light industry
• Back office operations
• Warehousing
• Retirement facilities & housing
• Consolidated used car facility
• Retail
  • Spillover from Hammonton
  • Elwood Village with increased activity
  • Theater company property
• Public tourism or education facilities
• Golf course

Wastewater Options

• Extend sewer from Hammonton into PT district
• Expand school treatment system or install a new facility to service Elwood village
• Egg Harbor City expansion

Transportation & Circulation

• Upgrade pedestrian system in Elwood Village
• Encourage the development of pedestrian systems in the Pinelands Town District
• Explore options for a rail stop in Elwood Village

Public Investments

• Apply for TEA-21 grants to fund sidewalk and bike path installation
• Develop a tourism interpretive facility in Elwood
• Design and require graphic consistency of signage along the corridor

Regulatory Issues

• Prepare design guidelines for landscaping, building setback, facades and signage

For More Information

For more information on the pilot program or upcoming activities, call the Pinelands Commission's office at (609)894-7300, or call one of the local contacts listed below:

Woodbine Borough - Thomas Flud, Assistant to the Mayor, (609)861-5301

Dennis/Maurice River Townships - Albert Knoll, Dennis Township Administrator, 861-9700; Linda Costello, Maurice River Township, (856) 785-1120

Buena Vista Township - Chuck Chiarello, Mayor, (609)697-2100, ext. 24

Mullica Township (including the Preservation Area Task Force; i.e., Bass River and Washington Townships) - Mary Lou Simon, Mullica Township Clerk, (609)561-0064; Rich Bethea, Bass River Township Mayor, (609)296-3337; Fred Hample, Washington Township Committee Member, (609) 965-3242