{"id":1778,"date":"2024-09-25T08:41:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T12:41:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2025-08-22T15:52:31","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:52:31","slug":"land-use-visioning-increases-support-for-and-participation-in-flood-buyouts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/land-use-visioning-increases-support-for-and-participation-in-flood-buyouts\/","title":{"rendered":"Land Use Visioning Increases Support for and Participation in Flood Buyouts"},"content":{"rendered":"

September 18, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
As an example of \u201cvisioning,\u201d shown above is a concept design for a floodplain restoration project. Blue Acres\u2019 survey asked if similar designs used in public engagement processes would influence respondents\u2019 views on flood buyouts. Graphic source: Sean Murray, Rutgers Dept. of Landscape Architecture in Partnership with NJ Blue Acres Program<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Blue Acres <\/span>administered <\/span>an online survey to understand if more public engagement is needed around buyouts and to see if post-buyout land use visioning efforts would improve support for<\/span> buyout<\/span> participation<\/span> and <\/span>community <\/span>land <\/span>stewardship<\/span>.\u202f For context, <\/span>land use <\/span>\u201cvisioning\u201d refers to preparing digital renderings of a site that display proposed restoration options <\/span>for<\/span> implementation<\/span>. The visioning being discussed in this <\/span>survey <\/span>would occur <\/span>in consultation with community mem<\/span>bers<\/span> to provide visual examples of how the land might be utilized once it becomes open space.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Survey Distribution<\/span><\/b>
\nThe short, seven-question survey <\/span>went live<\/span> on February 28<\/span>th<\/span><\/a>, 2024,<\/span> and <\/span>accept<\/span>ed<\/span> survey responses for sixty-two days<\/span>,<\/span> conclud<\/span>ing<\/span> on April 30th<\/span>.\u202f\u202fTo solicit responses, it was shared via email with those on the Blue Acres listserv and the Governor\u2019s Office of Innovation\u2019s email list. The survey was also promoted by Blue Acres staff during presentations at three professional conferences during March and April.\u00a0<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Survey <\/span><\/b>Response<\/span><\/b>s<\/span><\/b>
\nThe survey yielded eighty-<\/span>six<\/span> responses <\/span>from community members, homeowners, or government representatives. Most respondents (93%) seemed to favor more public engagement around buyouts, and over 87% of respondents felt that if visual<\/span> aid<\/span>s were available to define post-buyout land use, they would be more likely to support buyouts.\u202f\u202fSimilarly, the responses to two questions <\/span>asking<\/span> how participants connect open space to flood protection showed that most people believe more open space in the floodplain and a naturally functioning floodplain can meaningfully reduce damage from flooding, 94.3% and 76% respectively. Likewise, the majority of respondents indicated they support funding to address long-term management of buyout lands.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Survey Outcomes<\/span><\/b>
\nThe <\/span>responses<\/span> collected <\/span>support<\/span> Blue Acres\u2019 ongoing initiatives to <\/span>better engage communities <\/span>focusing on <\/span>flood risk<\/span> and mitigation communications<\/span> and post-buyout land use visioning. <\/span>By creating opportunities for post-buyout land use visioning, Blue Acres aims to grow support for buyouts <\/span>while empowering community members to <\/span>advocate for the <\/span>optimiz<\/span>ation of <\/span>buyout lands<\/span> to <\/span>meet community goals and needs such as climate resilience, beautification, passive recreation, etc<\/span>.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \"\"<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Blue Acres thanks all who participated\u2014community feedback is essential as the program works towards innovative, sustainable solutions for flood-impacted areas.\u202f<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Blue Acres’ survey reveals strong community support for increased public engagement and visual land use planning to enhance buyout participation and flood resilience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":468,"featured_media":3186,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"dep-blueacres-single.php","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,9,14],"tags":[21],"class_list":["post-1778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-announcements","category-publications","category-resources","tag-blue-acres-resources"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3174,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions\/3174"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deptest.nj.gov\/blueacres\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}