Newark, NJ—When Lisa Sanders bought her condo five years ago in the Button Factory condominiums—a converted 1879 button factory in Newark’s Ironbound neighborhood—she thought the charm and character of the four-square-mile, multi-ethnic hub she called home would never change.

But now Sanders is concerned that her bustling and diverse neighborhood in the city’s East Ward is in jeopardy due to new zoning legislation recently passed by Newark’s city council.

“We bought in with expectations,” Sander said. “I speak for a lot of my neighbors. We want to see development, but we don’t want high-rises plopped in the middle of our neighborhood. It’s a very profitable ward and a thriving community and now they want to jeopardize that.”

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Sanders, along with other area residents, members of land-use advocacy group PLANewark and the Button Factory Condominium Association has filed a complaint against the Newark Municipal Council, the Newark Central Planning Board and City Clerk Kenneth Louis in opposition to a zoning ordinance adopted by the city council in October, which created an MX-3 zone in the Ironbound.

The development measure will now allow for developers to construct high-density residential and commercial buildings up to 12 stories in certain Ironbound locations near Penn Station.

The complaint, filed in Superior Court in November, challenges the validity of the MX-3 ordinance and alleges the new zoning rules undermine Newark's 2012 Master Plan, which residents say seeks to protect the culturally diverse, low-scale character of the Ironbound.

According to the complaint, the new zoning laws were passed without adequate time and information for the community to consider the implications, deliberately ignores the needs of local residents, will result in increased rents and property taxes and will exacerbate existing flooding, traffic and parking issues.

MX-3 was passed by the city council as part of inclusionary zoning legislation after a months-long debate over affordable housing, with East Ward Councilman Augusto Amador the sole council member to vote against the measure.





Amador, who is also on the planning board, did not respond to a request for comment. In addition, a call to the Department of Economic and Housing Development—which oversees the city's planning and zoning boards—was not returned.

Newark North Ward Councilman Anibal Ramos, Jr., who voted in favor of the MX-3 ordinance, said the city has met with East Ward residents to discuss the zoning legislation.

“I did support the MX-3 ordinance and it established a maximum of 12 stories in that zone as well as other sustainability requirements such as appropriate setbacks for the front and side yards,” Ramos said. “I know that the Department of Economic Development has been meeting with some of the groups in the East Ward who have raised objections to the MX3 ordinance.”

While the plaintiffs contend that the city’s zoning and land-use ordinance adopted in 2015 is consistent with the 2012 Master Plan, they allege the council’s amendment in June 2017 is not.

“It’s not like it was an older plan that needed updating,” Sanders said. “These high-rises totally don’t fit in the neighborhood. These buildings will affect the rent with all these luxury rentals. All these people that make up the fabric of the community will get pushed out. People own the businesses in the area and they need to live nearby. People come to the Ironbound for its diversity, charm and character. It’s pulling its own weight in the city.”

The plaintiffs also allege that Louis failed to give residents the mandated 10-day notice regarding the public hearing in October and that the planning board failed to follow due process by not allowing public comment at a public hearing in July.

Louis did not respond to a request for comment.

According to the land-use element of the 2012 Master Plan, it is recommended that certain blocks in the Ironbound be designated as multi-family, mid-rise residential (R-MM), which calls for a maximum building height of eight stories.

High-rise, multi-family residential (R-HM) are designated as buildings over eight stories but no more than 20.

The R-MM designation carves out an area around Penn Station as not suitable for high-rise development, according to the Master Plan, with only a few blocks located east of Penn Station having R-MM designation, according to the complaint.

Sanders noted the many empty and abandoned buildings that need development just blocks from the neighborhood, as well as surface lots owned by developers who she said have done nothing to improve the neighborhood.

“In Newark, the reality is that people bought property 20 years ago and now they want to cash in on it,” she said. “They never tried to improve the community. There are plenty of empty lots in Newark. Why not build there?”

In June 2017, staff from the city’s planning department appeared before the planning board at a public hearing in support of the proposed MX-3 ordinance.

The complaint alleges that the city planner testified that the proposed MX-3 zone was consistent with the 2012 Master Plan and that the increase in height and density for the area surrounding Penn Station was synonymous with "areas designated as transit-oriented."

But residents allege the planner failed to acknowledge that the 2012 Master Plan marked out the area around Penn Station as not suitable for high-rise development.

At June's public hearing, more than 100 residents came to voice their opposition to the MX-3 ordinance, citing lack of public participation, inconsistency with the 2012 Master Plan and lack of proper notice.

At a community meeting held in July at the Portuguese Sports Club, members of the Newark Department of Economic and Housing Development "attempted to present information regarding the ordinance but were unprepared,” according to the complaint, which alleges that no studies regarding the impact of the ordinance were presented, no translators provided for the predominately Portuguese and Spanish-speaking attendees and no information due to the "disorganization of public officials."

Longtime Ironbound resident Aleix Martinez, also a resident of the Button Factory building and named as a plaintiff in the complaint, said MX-3 puts the neighborhood at risk.

“The Ironbound was made desirable by the people who live in it,” Martinez said. “Having giant buildings not only threatens the character but crowds the infrastructure and it’s bad for small businesses.”

Martinez noted a 7-Eleven recently built inside a converted building in the area and said that an increase in development threatens small businesses and ruins the character of the neighborhood.

“Dunkin Donuts and 7-Eleven are not amenities for people who live here,” he said. “We already have our nice coffee shops. They threaten small businesses and they’re an eyesore. I only have to walk three blocks from my house to see abandoned buildings on Market Street. Shouldn’t we focus on those?”

Martinez also cited several surface lots in the area, which he alleges are run illegally by local developers.

“In Newark, they just do what they want,” he said. “I’ve lived in this neighborhood for 34 years and there was never this big investment from outside; it was done communally. When we speak to people from the city, they say, "we need density." That's the buzz word. We already have density in the Ironbound."

Sanders believes Newark is now a city that developers consider profitable but often at the expense of its residents.

“It’s hard to say whether the city government will continue to unduly let that influence their decisions,” she said. “Money speaks louder than residents.”