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Anker West, Nell Painter and Ada Caro, West's wife, are among a group of Ironbound residents who are fed up with parking lots in their neighborhood. They are fighting the construction of another lot.,

(Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)

Anker West, an architectural designer, has a pretty good idea what his Newark neighborhood should look like.

In his world, people would stroll and shop along landscaped streets in the city’s Ironbound section in the shadow of Penn Station.

The parking lots would be below ground as well as above, and definitely not spread out like the strip malls that line the suburbs.

To West, who lives and works among a colony of artists, visual designers and architects, it all makes perfect sense.

But when he peers from the roof of his home on Union Street, West and his neighbors see acres of valuable city land going to waste. They say the glut of parking lots squashes any chance for development, creating what they call "dead space" that is sucking the life from their community.

"It’s in conflict with an urban neighborhood," West said. "Nobody envisioned that it would be blocks and blocks of parking."

Between the Prudential Center and the back of Penn Station, the 13th lot popped up on McWhorter Street two years ago, and residents were unable to stop it. They’re appealing that one in court.

But to the amazement of West and his like-minded neighbors, there are now plans for another lot on Bruen Street, just across from the one on McWhorter Street.

What’s so surprising in this debate is that Newark’s master plan promotes the kind of development residents want, and its zoning ordinances prohibit parking lots.

But the rules change when property owners with plans for a parking lot go before the Zoning Board of Adjustment. They’re very often successful in winning variances to open up yet another lot.

"Newark (zoning board) gives them out as if it was candy on Halloween," said Madeline Ruiz, an architect who lives in the neighborhood.

But Rosemarie Ruivo, a zoning board member whose district includes the Ironbound, insists the variances for the lots are not the problem. She said the area is zoned industrial, not residential, and that there’s not much board members can do unless or until the area is rezoned.

Instead of parking lots, Ruivo said, the current industrial zoning could bring businesses that residents would oppose even more, like night clubs or lumber yards.

"You have to weigh it out," Ruivo said. "It’s not that I like parking, but it is quiet."

Residents don’t buy that rationale, however.

After a review of the city’s ordinance, Dan Jennings, the acting deputy mayor of economic and housing development, said the industrial zone permits retail and light industrial businesses as well as residences and offices.

"In general, we like to see fewer parking lots and more tax-paying structures on those lots," he said.

Clearly, something different can be done with the thousands of cars left by commuters, concertgoers or sports fans darting for a train or downtown office buildings.

East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador has been criticized by Ironbound residents for not doing enough, but he says he’s on their side. And Amador says the zoning board, whose members are appointed by the council, should listen to residents’ concerns before granting variances.

"To continue to approve parking lots is going to defeat the notion that the city of Newark cannot grow," he said. "I think the opportunity is there for us to create the conditions that will allow other types of development to take place."

Short of seizing the land through eminent domain, the city has not been able to do much to help except let the zoning board know whether a project complies with the city’s ordinances.

"We’re advised not to take too strong of a position against or in support of any application and let the zoning board decide the matter," Jennings said.

But in 2012, the city wasn’t neutral in a report critical of the McWhorter Street lot, which residents were unable to stop.

"It is the opinion of the city that a surface parking lot in this location would detract from the walkability of the neighborhood, create a hazard to pedestrians, and otherwise negatively impact the quality of life for residential and institutional uses in the vicinity of the site," the report said.

Jennings couldn’t explain what happened in this case, even though there were objections raised and information presented by 17 residents. The zoning board didn’t listen and approved lot.

Residents, who are appealing the project, recently met with Nino Pereira, who has plans to operate the newest lot on Bruen Street. They listened to his attorney, Fausto Simoes, talk about including a pocket park, more landscaping and fewer parking spaces.

Still, the residents peppered Pereira and Simoes with reasons for opposing the lot. Someone was raped last year. Cars are vandalized. Stormwater runoff causes street flooding.

"A parking lot may not be the ideal situation for you," Simoes said. "Our position is that it’s an appropriate use."

Fausto said he understood their concerns, but that the improvements they’re looking are not likely to come in a bad economy. Residents plan to meet with Pereira before a zoning board hearing July 10 to see if they can live with revised plans.

Whatever happens, they’d rather not have parking lots spreading like "The Blob," the 1958 horror movie in which an alien life form swallows up everything in sight.

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