Collaborative Planning in Mendham, NJ

Conflict:	Landowner vs government officials vs residents
Solution:	Relationships improved significantly. New ideas to expand village zone with conservation buffer. Master plan and ordinances updated.
Abstract:	In Mendham large lot zoning was changed to village zoning on a ninety acre tract adjacent to the village. Increases in density were allowed in return for setting aside 70 percent of the tract as a wildlife sanctuary and including affordable housing in the project. An old, washed out pond on the tract was rebuilt in the wildlife sanctuary and connected to the existing village and the new village annex with seven foot wide paved walkways.
Testimonials:	"We were, I think, eight or nine at that first meeting. Then very quickly the group grew, almost doubled in size within the next couple of meetings and that ís because the people that were there were enjoying getting to know each other, and thought of other people that should be there. We're really moving streets around and moving buildings around. We have little model buildings that are to the scale of the aerial photo that we're working on, and we're pushing them here and there and talking about what we like about this configuration and what we like about that configuration.
	We have had a number of visits to the site and we have walked around the town and talked amongst ourselves about what we liked and what we would like to replicate. The participants like that sort of thing. They keep referring back to those times we were on the property or that time we went and walked through the town. We are creating an on-going relationship amongst ourselves and I think that propels a lot of people to keep coming, because they're enjoying it.
	From my experience on the planning board and developing land use ordinances, I think it's not possible to legislate the diversity that's needed. I think there are people in every community that will see the need for collaborative planning and I do think this is the only way to do it!"
	Ruth Smith, Mendham Boro Council and Planning Board

	"I've learned that it's possible to have strangers come together and meet in a creative, enthusiastic way over a long period of time to meet a common goal. I wouldn't have thought that so much enthusiasm would have been generated over this. The collaborative planning process put me in touch with the people in the community; so I became more sensitized to what the community really needed and wanted out of my land. The citizens played basically two roles; one, they have contributed alot of energy and talent and effort and hard work doing things that would have had to be done anyway, and secondly, and probably more important, the citizens provided a kind of political base for the notion of doing things differently, that I couldn't possibly have generated without their support.
	I don't know so many of the people that have property bordering this property and as a result of this forum I got to know quite a few of them and their honest input has been very useful to me. To have a plan that is supported by quite a large number of the citizens surrounding the property, which is our goal, is something that's almost unheard of and it takes what is usually the biggest problem in developing land and it turns it into a benefit."
	John deNeufville, land owner and developer