BRS Projects

MOUNT EPHRAIM EPA AREA WIDE PLANNING EFFORT

BRS, Inc. worked with the Camden Redevelopment Agency (CRA) to develop an area-wide plan that included implementation strategies for brownfields assessment, cleanup, and reuse.

History

The Mount Ephraim neighborhood in Camden, NJ, is predominantly residential and commercial, and contains many vacant brownfield sites. As a recipient of an EPA Area-Wide Planning (AWP) grant, the project focused on brownfields that were a major impediment for redevelopment considerations. This neighborhood was also the target of a U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Choice Neighborhood Planning Grant, and the City received a HUD Choice Neighborhood Implementation grant during the AWP project period, necessitating intensive coordination of the two programs to maximize the benefits for the area. The resulting AWP plan provided direction for future improvements of the area’s brownfields that are protective of public health and the environment, economically viable, and reflective of the community’s vision for the area.

As a result of the collaborative efforts of BRS, WRT, the City, the CRA, and the community, a robust participative effort resulted in a series of redevelopment scenarios with public support. The project was awarded the 2019 Outstanding Community Engagement Award from the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association.

BRS’s role:

• Prepared the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) AWP grant application;
• Performed EPA grant management services to include fulfillment of all cooperative agreement reporting requirements and all requisite drawdown activities;
• Convened and facilitated numerous stakeholder meetings and public meetings;
• Analyzed market conditions, infrastructures, health impacts, and energy needs;
• Developed brownfield inventory and priority ranking, resulting in the identification of two catalyst and three small-scale priority sites;
• Conducted file reviews on priority sites and developed environmental summaries of existing conditions;
• Developed a series of potential redevelopment scenarios for the priority sites, using input from the Steering Committee, the public, and research on existing conditions; and
• Developed an AWP document, available here.

Learn more about our Brownfields, Planning, and Funding Services.