Rutgers students present 'Plan for Health New Jersey' findings to Montgomery planning board

Students from the Blaustein School of Planning and Public Policy at Rutgers University presented a Plan for Health New Jersey studio to the Montgomery Township Planning Board on May 11, describing local findings and an implementation framework derived from beta-testing statewide toolkits.

Lecturer Tom D’Alessio said the project is part of Plan for Health New Jersey, a collaboration between APA New Jersey and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that included a $1,500,000 grant to create toolkits and to beta-test them in municipalities. He asked Montgomery to serve as the suburban case study. Students analyzed six toolkits (housing and community development; healthy food and agriculture; environmental sustainability; mobility; healthcare access; policy and civic engagement) through document review, site visits and meetings with local decision-makers.

The student presenters highlighted several local takeaways: Montgomery’s low density and single-family housing pattern reduce walkability; grocery stores are clustered near the Belle Meade and southern Princeton Airport nodes leaving the western township underserved; radon testing in Somerset County showed a higher share of elevated results than the statewide sample (the students cited a 2022 county report); and municipal policies such as wastewater/stormwater ordinances and lot/building coverage rules were strengths. They recommended options such as permitting mobile food pantries on municipal land, encouraging grocery uses in light-industrial zones, expanding five-year agricultural leasing and revisiting complete-streets policies to improve connectivity.

The presenters described a seven-step implementation framework (forming a cross-sector team, widening stakeholder participation, collecting qualitative/quantitative data, drafting land-use recommendations, adopting measurable policies, implementing them and periodically reviewing the process). Board members and residents asked which toolkit to start with; presenters suggested beginning with a data-driven look at local social determinants of health and priorities identified by the community.

Board members expressed appreciation; one member and other residents noted the township recently received a $50,000 grant to begin local work and urged coordination with the local public-health officer and the Board of Health. The presentation closed with an invitation to form a local team to apply the toolkits in Montgomery.