FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, June 19, 2014

Christie Administration Announces Post-Sandy Planning Grant to Brigantine City

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



Trenton, NJ – New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Commissioner Richard E. Constable, III today announced the award of $340,000 in Post-Sandy Planning Assistance Grants to Brigantine, 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.

These grants are the second Post-Sandy Planning Assistance funds that Brigantine 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 serves as the City’s comprehensive guide for eight recovery and resiliency projects funded by the second grant.

“We applaud Brigantine for being proactive in planning for the long-term and developing ways to make the community better able to withstand natural disasters that may potentially happen in the future,” said Commissioner Constable, whose Department is administering many of the Sandy Recovery programs for the State. “Through its participation in this program, Brigantine has demonstrated its commitment to finding solutions to the very specific challenges it is facing.”

The eight projects identified in the Strategic Recovery Planning Report that will be funded by the second grant are for:

  • Design standards and environmental design of Brigantine’s Bayfront area, where the majority of homes that experienced storm damage are located;
  • Community Development Plan for Business Districts;
  • Municipal plan to enhance public access to recreation and open space;
  • Environmental design for Brigantine Boulevard improvements;
  • Master Plan development;
  • Prepare building design standards for flood protection and revise the zoning code to reflect these standards and changes to the Master Plan;
  • Capital Improvement Plan development; and
  • Capital Improvement Plan for regionalization and shared services.

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.

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