New Jersey § 55:19-64

§ 55:19-64.

a. In order to qualify to receive the services of the Office of Neighborhood Empowerment

and of an interagency team, a community must first have developed a neighborhood empowerment

plan which shall be submitted to the Urban Coordinating Council established pursuant

to section 45 of P.L.1996, c. 62 ( C. 55:19-60 ). A neighborhood empowerment plan shall incorporate and address the needs of the neighborhood

as identified by the community. It shall be comprehensive and shall take into consideration and show the relationship

to the municipal master plan, other locally adopted plans (including, but not limited

to urban enterprise zone plans, redevelopment plans and neighborhood social service

plans), and the State Development and Redevelopment Plan, and shall outline how residents,

municipal government, the private sector and neighborhood organizations will cooperate

with the State and with each other during implementation. Neighborhood empowerment plans shall focus on neighborhood restoration. They may include, but need not be limited to, projects for infrastructure improvement

and expansion, rehabilitation and construction of affordable housing, increased public

safety, facility rehabilitation and construction, economic development, recreation

and open space, environmental cleanup, employment and training, improvement of educational

opportunities for youth, and efficient and humane provision of social services dedicated

to strengthening the community's human capital. b. Neighborhood empowerment plans shall be developed by local sponsors with the guidance

of a community director and under the direction of, and with the participation of,

residents, community-based organizations, the private sector, and the municipal government. A local sponsor may be a municipality, county, public or private county and municipal

development agency, district management corporation created pursuant to section 4

of P.L.1972, c. 134 ( C. 40:56-68 ), community action board established pursuant to section 4 of P.L.1991, c. 51 ( C. 52:27D-398 ), sponsors of neighborhood empowerment organizations, or an institution, such as

a hospital, college or university, or a community-based organization. The entity that will implement the neighborhood empowerment plan shall be either a

new or existing community development organization or a consortium of existing community

based organizations.