Brownfield Redevelopment in the Highlands: How Your Community Can Benefit
The Highlands Council, the Center for Creative Land Recycling, and the NJ Brownfields Interagency Working Group came together to host the “Redevelopment in the Highlands: How your Community Can Benefit” workshop on May 14, 2019. The impetus for the workshop was to provide municipalities in the Highlands and redevelopment professionals active guidance on rehabilitating derelict properties for community economic and environmental benefit in keeping with restrictions set to protect New Jersey’s drinking water.
The conference kicked off with a Lightning Round of presentations delivered by: the NJ Highlands Council, Kyle + McManus Associates, the Mayor of West Milford, Maser Consulting, Brown and Caldwell, and Parker McCay. From the varied perspectives of land use planners, a lawyer, a Licensed Site Remediation Expert, and an elected official, the panelists shared their expertise on legal liability, the importance of due diligence in a property acquisition, brownfield regulation, site remediation, stakeholder engagement, and collaboration with developers. They shared experience, case studies, and best practices, providing attendees with essential information and inspiring action to create tangible change within their communities.
The second half of the conference consisted of a series of talks from state and federal officials, and a private developer, discussing tax incentives, public funding, and technical resources that could be useful for developers and municipalities. The “Show Me the Money: Leveraging Public Redevelopment Resources for Private Investment” panel had speakers from the Highlands Council, the New Jersey Economic Development Authority, the New Jersey Infrastructure Bank, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, a Brownfields Project Officer from U.S. EPA Region 2, and the founder of Hoboken Brownstone Company. Speakers are available for follow up questions on grants, loans and other sources of funding and their powerpoint presentations and contact information can be found below.
Here are Resources and PowerPoints from the Workshop
New Jersey Highlands Council Website
New Jersey Highlands Council Liasons
*Please note that although the page states that the liaisons are mainly for municipal officials so that they have easy points of contact, anyone else is free to use the list as well.
About CCLR – Jean Hamerman, Deputy Director
Program Booklet
Center for Creative Land Recycling: Guide to the Federal and New Jersey Agencies
ANJEC: Remediating and Redeveloping Brownfields in New Jersey
New Jersey State Council on the Arts: Public Art Creative Placemaking and Trifold Artist Services
Ask the Experts Panel
Maryjude Haddock-Weiler, PP/AICP | Planning Manager, NJ Highlands Council
Jim Kyle, PP/AICP | Principal, Kyle + McManus Associates
Michele Dale | Mayor, West Milford
Darlene A. Green, PP/AICP | Senior Associate, Maser Consulting
Stephen A. Kessel, P.E., LSRP | Vice President/Chief Engineer, Brown and Caldwell
Yin Zhou | Counsel, Parker McCay PA
Show Me the Money Panel
Herb August | Manager of Grants Administration, NJ Highlands Council
Maggie Peters | Senior Community Development Officer, NJ Economic Development Authority
Judy Karp | Legal and Compliance Officer, NJ Infrastructure Bank
Bill Lindner | Manager, Office of Brownfield Reuse, NJ Department of Environmental Protection
Schenine Mitchell | Brownfields Project Officer, U.S. EPA Region 2
George Vallone | Founder and President, Hoboken Brownstone Company
