SENATE COMMUNITY AND URBAN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE

STATEMENT TO

SENATE, No. 4037

with committee amendments

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

DATED:  MARCH 17, 2025

      The Senate Community and Urban Affairs Committee reports favorably and with committee amendments Senate Bill No. 4037.

      As amended and reported, this bill establishes in the Office of Planning Advocacy (office) in the Department of State an “Enhanced Transit Village Program” (program), to be administered with the support of the Department of Transportation (DOT), for the purpose of incentivizing mixed-use development in close proximity to public transportation service using land use patterns based on smart growth principles.  The office is to administer the review and selection of municipalities that apply to participate in the program, pursuant to the bill, and aid qualifying municipalities with the planning and zoning assessments necessary for the implementation of the program.  The DOT is to be responsible for the transportation infrastructure components of the program, including infrastructure grants.  A municipality may apply to the program in a form and manner to be determined by the office, as provided in the bill.

      The office is to structure the program to provide technical assistance and financial support to improve the place-making quality of the enhanced transit village, increase the walkability and bikeability of the area, to improve walking and biking connections to transit, to reduce the dominance of automobiles and auto-centric infrastructure in the area, to increase the number, type, and range of housing opportunities, and to ensure a mix of commercial and public uses that support residents and commuters.

      For residential lots located within an enhanced transit village, the program is to provide for the establishment of an as-of-right residential building option with at least two densities depending on the distance from the central transit point, established for the enhanced transit village.

      The office is to have the discretion to set density levels outside of the parameters in the bill from location to location based on the existing development patterns of the enhanced transit village, in a way that gradually increases residential density in a context-sensitive manner that the local infrastructure is capable of absorbing.

      The bill requires the office to develop an application process for transit village municipalities to apply to the program, and specifies smart growth requirements for applications to the program.

      The office is permitted to seek the assistance and avail itself of the services or employees of any State, county, or municipal department, board bureau, commission, or agency as the office may require and as may be available for the office’s purposes, including the Transit Village Task Force.

      The bill appropriates $25 million from the General Fund to the office for the costs of planning and implementation the program.  The bill also provides that any affordable housing funds are to be given priority disbursement to enhanced transit village projects to enable the project to meet the general 30 percent affordable housing threshold described in the bill.

COMMITTEE AMENDMENTS:

      The committee amended the bill to replace the $50 million “Transportation Trust Fund” earmark funding with a $25 million appropriation from the General Fund to the office for the planning and implementation of the program.  The committee also amended the bill’s title and synopsis to reflect that change.