Community Planning Assistance Program

Message from Tom Schulze, CPAP Coordinator

Welcome and thank you for your interest in APA-NJ’s Community Planning Assistance Program.   Our goal is to provide volunteer planning support to municipalities and community-based organizations in New Jersey.  

The types of issues that could be addressed in the program include; developing vision plans, housing needs assessment, environmental planning, site planning, local transportation plans or traffic circulation studies, parking strategies, transit oriented development and redevelopment conceptual plans, developing a planning process, guidance on neighborhood-based plans, economic development initiatives, and recreation needs.

We are entering the third year of the program and have successfully completed over a dozen community driven plans throughout New Jersey. You can see a brief description of these below.

If you have any questions or need more information, I encourage you to contact me.

 CPAP Projects & Updates

Hackensack Transit Hub

posted on November 13th, 2022 in CP Assistance Program, News

APA New Jersey’s Community Planning Assistance team is pleased to share a strategic plan for the City of Hackensack focused on the Essex Street Train Station on NJ TRANSIT’s Pascack Valley Line. The work was done in partnership with NJTPA’s Transit Hub Pilot Program and the final plan was released in September of 2022.

Fanwood Transit Hub

posted on August 15th, 2021 in CP Assistance Program

The APA New Jersey Community Planning Assistance Team worked closely with the Borough to develop a Transit Hub strategic plan that would strengthen the station area by improving pedestrian connections between the station and the surrounding cultural, retail, and commercial areas and the nearby library and the Kuran Cultural Center.

Transit Hubs Pilot Program

posted on April 23rd, 2020 in CP Assistance Program

The Transit Hubs Pilot program was developed to work with communities to create vibrant areas around existing train stations and/or stops, while supporting the community’s goals for economic development, land use, access to jobs and cultural development. The studies were completed by APA New Jersey in partnership NJTPA and Rutgers.

Paterson Greenway Project

posted on April 10th, 2020 in CP Assistance Program

In early 2019 Habitat for Humanity in Paterson, NJ contacted the APA-NJ chapter to talk about their need for a team of volunteer planners. They wanted to create a concept for a green space along the Passaic River in the Northside Neighborhood of Paterson, NJ. They wanted two types of green space; a walkway along the river, called Riverwalk, and a sports fields in an area along the river dominated by abandoned and marginal industrial and residential properties. The Northside Neighborhood is across the Passaic River from Downtown Paterson.  

Health Issues of the West Ward, Newark NJ

posted on March 2nd, 2018 in CP Assistance Program

The Chapter’s Community Planning Assistance Program was invited by Babyland Family Services in Newark’s West Ward to build upon its social service programs to address the growing healthcare disparities and substandard living conditions for families in the West Ward.

City Planning Institute

posted on October 23rd, 2017 in CP Assistance Program

This summer, the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association partnered with several organizations to create the City Planning Institute, a two-week program in City Planning for 20 public […]

Boonton Transit Village Feasibility Analysis & Community Visioning

posted on February 23rd, 2016 in CP Assistance Program

In 2015, the New Jersey American Planning Association (NJAPA) Community Planning Assistance Program (CPAP) team was asked to assist the Town of Boonton Economic Development Committee (EDC) with a feasibility analysis and community visioning relative to transit oriented development. As a component of the CPAP project, the EDC requested support in making application to the New Jersey Department of Transportation for “Transit Village” designation.