Choosing Redevelopment The first and most important decision in the redevelopment process is deciding whether or not to use redevelopment. A municipality's decision to exercise its redevelopment authority is one that must be arrived at carefully and after much thoughtful deliberation. Redevelopment is a powerful option, but a municipality that uses redevelopment inappropriately or within the wrong context runs the risk of generating political and legal problems that ultimately will undermine its revitalization efforts. Also, by carefully weighing its options, a municipality might discover that alternatives to redevelopment more appropriately address the community's needs. When is redevelopment appropriate? A municipality may want to consider redevelopment if: The problem is serious and all other efforts to address it have failed. A municipality might have unsuccessfully tried rezoning a problem area to stimulate interest from property owners or developers. Perhaps the municipality found no takers when it attempted to auction off properties it had acquired previously through tax foreclosure or abandonment. Or, the municipality might have aggressively enforced municipal health and building codes in a fruitless effort to get absentee landlords to maintain their properties. A property has been lying vacant or underutilized for a long period of time. Occasionally, vacant lots within an area appear to lack investment interest or economic viability. Such properties may be as small as a few scattered neighborhood lots or as extensive as a tract of land containing hundreds of acres. It may be that these properties remained vacant because of environmental constraints, such as wetlands or soil contamination, lack of access or other locational problems, or because of title problems. Property assemblage is necessary to provide sites large enough for desired land uses. Under some circumstances, an area's normal economic growth and development or sustained vitality is impaired by its historic lot size and ownership patterns. Lot sizes may be too small to accommodate modern uses, especially given evolving requirements for parking, loading, and landscaping. These undersized lots may involve numerous property owners, making lot consolidation difficult or impossible to achieve. The municipality wants to control what is built. Haphazard growth may be evident in an area. While some properties languish, marginal new land uses may be cropping up on a few scattered sites within the area. However, a municipality may have determined that this new development might not reflect best uses for the area; rather, they may provide only a limited opportunity to create new jobs and expand the municipal ratable base. It may be that the area needs to be "reinvented" through entirely new land uses or a mix of land uses that requires specialized development regulations. Long-term tax exemptions, state resources to clean up brownfield sites, or other revitalization assistance specifically tied to a redevelopment-area designation are sought. A municipality may want to take advantage of available state incentive programs or spur new investment through the use of tax abatements and exemptions. However, a municipality cannot offer incentives such as long-term tax exemptions in return for property improvements unless the targeted property falls within a designated redevelopment area or is located within a state Urban Enterprise Zone (UEZ). Similarly, a municipality that qualifies for assistance under the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority's (NJRA) Urban Coordinating Council (UCC) program also may qualify for brownfields-remediation funding if the site targeted for cleanup is located within a designated redevelopment area. When is redevelopment Inappropriate? A municipality may NOT want to choose redevelopment if: The problem can be addressed through zoning. A municipality may sometimes encourage private investment through a change of zoning, including the easing of overly restrictive provisions, providing incentives, or permitting land uses that are more attractive to potential developers. Overlay zone districts that encourage land assembly or other performance standards and incentives also may be a reasonable alternative to redevelopment. Other public incentives and investment strategies may be more effective. If the problem is more "cosmetic" than "systemic," it might be better addressed through a "carrot and sick" initiative that combines grants and other financial incentives on the one hand, and aggressive code enforcement on the other. Investment in capital improvements such as streetscapes and parks; or public activity centers such as transit stations, cultural centers, convention centers, or a new municipal building in the downtown business district, often are sufficient catalysts for private investment in property rehabilitation. Special improvement districts (SIDs), business improvement districts (BIDs), or urban enterprise zones (UEZs) may be used in a community's commercial districts to spur investment and revitalization. The prime motivation is to qualify for grants. While some programs, such as several of the state's brownfield initiatives, are targeted to redevelopment areas, redevelopment should not be undertaken strictly on an assumption that a proposed redevelopment area will qualify for state or federal grants. Redevelopment should be used when the authority granted under the LRHL is deemed necessary to spur reinvestment and revitalization in an area or can be used to forge public-private partnerships, rather than merely to obtain grants. Private market forces are active in the area. If there is a reasonable level of private investment and development activity in an area, it may not be in need of redevelopment, even if parts of the area or individual properties qualify as redevelopment areas. In this situation, alternative approaches, such as a rehabilitation-area designation; the use of public incentives described earlier; or concentrating on a smaller, more focused infill development strategy, may be more appropriate. This particularly is true if a majority of properties in the area are in good condition and are well-utilized. Strategic marketing efforts also may help spur additional private investment in the area. Land acquisition and assembly are not needed. If property acquisition and land assembly are not needed, other strategies, such as designating the area in need of rehabilitation, may be more appropriate. The intent is to replace one type of use with another. Redevelopment should not be used to impose one's own vision onto the community. There has to be a clear public purpose and statutory foundation to use redevelopment. An area must meet the statutory criteria and be designated in need of redevelopment.