Overview
The Smart Growth Community Planning Program is administered by the Department of State’s Office of Planning, Development & Community Infrastructure (OPDCI) and is funded annually through the Environmental Protection Fund.
The program awards funding to communities to develop or update local and countywide comprehensive plans, area plans or zoning codes that emphasize and integrate Smart Growth principles.
Eligible applicants include counties, cities, towns, and villages, or counties, regional planning boards, and eligible not-for-profit organizations acting on behalf of a county, city, town, or village.
Smart Growth is a forward-thinking approach to planning and development that supports and integrates four key themes: Equity, Economy, Environment and Energy/Climate.
- Equity—Smart Growth champions inclusivity, equity and diversity by encouraging a variety of housing types and employment opportunities for people of all incomes, backgrounds, ages and abilities.
- Economy—Smart Growth enhances community quality of life, creates livable, sustainable communities and revitalizes downtowns, which is proven to help attract and retain businesses and workers.
- Environment—Environmental stewardship is woven into the fabric of Smart Growth, with green spaces and parks seamlessly integrated into community design.
- Energy/Climate—Smart Growth promotes walkable, bikeable, transit-accessible neighborhoods with a compact mix of land uses, which minimizes reliance on cars and thus reduces energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Smart Growth also encourages clean energy and climate resiliency.
These themes form the foundation for all OPDCI programs and policies.
Smart Growth Principles
Smart Growth promotes several land use planning principles that create livable, sustainable and equitable communities, including:
- Develop plans and land use regulations that allow for and encourage mixed-use neighborhoods.
- Enable a diverse mix of housing types, providing opportunity and choice for all.
- Prioritize infill and redevelopment of existing buildings to revitalize neighborhoods and downtowns, including areas around public transit.
- Provide well-planned, equitable, and accessible public spaces.
- Encourage compact neighborhood design and concentrated development around existing infrastructure.
- Preserve open space, agricultural resources, and natural resources.
- Prioritize transportation options such as walking, cycling, and public transportation.
- Promote climate resiliency and adaptation, preferably through nature-based solutions, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
- Build on unique traits to create an attractive and welcoming community with a strong sense of place.
- Engage in an inclusive, collaborative public planning process that considers the needs and character of the community.
Smart Growth is much more than an individual grant program. Smart Growth principles guide and permeate all our programs at OPDCI.
The Downtown Revitalization Initiative and NY Forward programs, achieve a core principle of Smart Growth—reinvesting in New York’s downtowns and municipal centers.
Similarly, the Brownfield Opportunity Area program re-uses and redevelops previously developed areas and buildings—primarily vacant, abandoned and underutilized neighborhoods with known or suspected contamination, most of which are located in communities identified as disadvantaged.
The Local Waterfront Revitalization Program creates vibrant and accessible public waterfront spaces, such as parks, trails, playgrounds, public amenities, boat docks and kayak launches; the program’s adherence to strict environmental policies ensures that waterfront redevelopment achieves the highest levels of environmental stewardship.
Funding Opportunities
Additional Resources
Local Government Training Programs
The New York Department of State’s Local Government Training (LGT) staff teaches land use planning and regulation and local governance and procedure to local elected and appointed officials annually at regional and county workshops across the state.
Online resources on comprehensive planning and zoning can be found here:
Smart Growth in the Adirondack Park and Catskill Park
The Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) applies funds exclusively to Smart Growth planning and projects in the Adirondack and Catskill Parks; DOS uses funds for various purposes related to community planning and development.
DEC Smart Growth grants are described on the website:
The Department of Transportation’s Smart Planning Program
NYS DOT has developed tools to help illustrate and examine the link between transportation and land use planning and educate communities about Smart Growth.
The Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Policy Act
This law requires New York State agencies to review public infrastructure projects through the lens of the principles of Smart Growth to avoid subsidizing sprawl and to promote funding for infrastructure projects with sustainable land use outcomes.