TCNJ News
February 13, 2004
Municipal Land Use Center Now at TCNJ
Ewing, NJ—The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) is pleased
to partner with the state to form the Municipal Land Use Center
(MLUC) at TCNJ, which will be discussing its future plans and
goals at an open house on the TCNJ campus on February 27 at
10 a.m. in Paul Loser Hall room 106. Congressman Rush Holt will
be the keynote speaker. County and municipal elected and appointed
officials will be in attendance as well as representatives of
the New Jersey League of Municipalities and New Jersey Planning
Officials and non-governmental organizations concerned about
land use throughout the state.
Difficulties resulting from suburban sprawl have become a major
concern throughout the country, and nowhere is the concern greater
than in New Jersey. With a $1.9 million, three-year federal
grant from the Federal Highway Administration(FHWA) obtained
through Rush Holt’s office, the MLUC will primarily serve
municipalities in the five counties of Hunterdon, Mercer, Middlesex,
Monmouth, and Somerset. The Center will seek to supplement municipal
resources through training and by providing valuable technical
assistance, while acknowledging municipalities as the key point
of intervention to improve land use decision-making in the five-county
region. It will also attempt to draw upon and apply the appropriate
resources of The College of New Jersey in its efforts.
“Despite laudable efforts by the state as well as regional
planning initiatives, municipalities and counties often make
decisions without the information necessary to see how those
decisions impact the region,” noted Martin Bierbaum, executive
director of the MLUC at TCNJ. “The MLUC at TCNJ will support
local land-use decision making by providing technical assistance
and facilitating access to valuable state, federal and non-governmental
resources. We seek to promote smart growth, which takes into
account local and regional impacts related to fiscal, transportation,
environmental and affordable housing concerns.”
The Municipal Land Use Center at TCNJ is currently staffed by
Bierbaum, executive director, Donna Drewes, principal planning
coordinator, and Linda Rosner, executive assistant. A data analyst
is expected to be hired shortly. In addition, the MLUC has a
five member board overseeing direction of the center. The board
members are: Edmund “Ted” Stiles, a professor of
biology at Cook College, Rutgers University, who currently serves
as president of the board; the Honorable Larry Fink, mayor of
Holmdel Township; Ingrid W. Reed, director of New Jersey Projects
at the Eagleton Institute, Rutgers University; Martin E. Robins,
Director, Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, Edward J.
Bloustein School, Rutgers University; and Robert J. Wolfe, principal,
Picus Associates, a land development and management firm.
Bierbaum holds masters’ degrees in political science and
city and regional planning, a J.D., and a Ph.D. in planning
and public policy. He has been on the graduate faculty in public
administration at Rutgers University as well as having worked
as an attorney and planning consultant. From March 2002 to April
2003, Bierbaum served in the McGreevey administration’s
Governor’s Policy Office as Deputy Policy Director responsible
for smart growth-related issues. During his 16-year state government
career before working in the Governor’s Policy Office,
he held policy-making positions as assistant director of the
Office of State Planning, Director of Environmental Planning
within the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection,
and Special Assistant to the Commissioner of the Department
of Community Affairs. He also served as Commissioners’
designee on the New Jersey Redevelopment Authority the Urban
Coordinating Committee and the New Jersey State Planning Commission.
Drewes is an award-winning professional planner with nearly
24 years’ experience in community and natural resource
planning in New Jersey. She has worked for public agencies and
non-governmental organizations, and as a private planning consultant.
Her experience includes extensive work in the development of
master plan and conservation plan elements and ordinance drafting
with an emphasis on rural and environmental resource management
issues. Drewes holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Soil Science
and a Master’s degree in City and Regional Planning, both
from Rutgers University.
Rosner’s academic background includes a master’s
degree in Social Work from Columbia University. Rosner has worked
in academic and medical settings for over 25 years. She worked
at Mercer County Community College counseling students and working
collaboratively with New Jersey colleges and universities to
develop and administer articulation agreements to establish
seamless pathways for students transferring from two year to
four year schools. Beginning in 1999, Ms. Rosner was employed
by the American Red Cross, Central New Jersey Chapter, engaged
in a wide variety of special events and fundraising activities.
About The College of New Jersey
TCNJ currently is ranked as one of the 75 "Most Competitive" schools in the nation by Barron's Profiles of American Colleges, is rated the No. 1 public institution in the northern region of the country by U.S. News & World Report, and is one of Kiplinger's Personal Finance's top educational values in the country. In 2006, the College joined an elite group of institutions when it was awarded a Phi Beta Kappa chapter. Fewer than 10 percent of the nation's colleges and universities share this honor.
