New plan for A.C. modeled on success in New Brunswick

A report on New Jersey gaming that reimagines Atlantic City doesn't look to Las Vegas or New York for inspiration. It looks to one of its own: New Brunswick.

The authors of the report say the 35-year transformation of the small central New Jersey city, the home of Rutgers University, offers a model for turning around the struggling Shore resort.

In the mid-1970s, pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson created a process for redevelopment through public-private partnerships - most significantly, through a tax-exempt development company specifically for New Brunswick.

"I believe New Brunswick is the most successful city in the state of New Jersey based on their business model, and we think the same thing can happen in Atlantic City," said Jon F. Hanson, the chairman of the commission that wrote the report released last week.

The 29-page document, which also includes controversial recommendations on the fate of New Jersey's racetracks and other sports facilities, has been endorsed by Gov. Christie and will now go to the Legislature, which could turn it into a plan for a possible public-private takeover of the city's gaming district.

"Instead of Johnson & Johnson, you have the casinos," Hanson said. "Our recommendation is that when someone gets up in the morning, their full-time job is to implement the public-private partnership."

In New Brunswick, the power of the public-private entity is limited largely to development. In Atlantic City, the partnership could hold more sway as a quasi-state agency with authority over municipal functions such as law enforcement, garbage collection, traffic flow, and the use of eminent domain for redevelopment.

The report calls for the creation of a new Atlantic City Tourism District in the casino and Boardwalk area - maybe a city-within-a-city akin to the Vatican - with autonomy over functions now handled by the city, the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority, and the Atlantic City Convention and Visitors Authority.

Such an entity would be modeled after the Meadowlands District, a 14-town consortium in North Jersey run by a state commission that has final say over zoning and planning. The new entity would also control assets including the convention center and Boardwalk Hall, and could outsource policing responsibilities to the city's police department, Hanson said.