A weed-choked lot in Newark's Central Ward is expected to become the home of the city's very first Wawa but a neighborhood group is trying to block it.

The neighborhood association has filed suit against the Newark Planning Board and Tonymar, LLC, which owns the lot and wants to build the 24-hour iconic convenience store.

Lisa Gray, president of the neighborhood group, says the WaWa wouldn't only bring different varieties of coffee, made-to-order quesadillas and fresh salads, but also increase the amount of crime and prostitutes in an area that has been prone to those problems. Gray said the city might also find a better business for this "up and coming" area.

"It's a high crime neighborhood already, weed, heroin. A big 24/7 store coming to a neighborhood like this with no security is ridiculous," she said. "We're not asking for a Saks 5th Avenue, but we can sustain a Trader Joes over here."

City officials celebrated the news back in 2017 when the Philadelphia-based company first announced plans to build on the lot. The move, officials said, showed that a national retailers was willing to make an investment in Newark's neighborhoods.

Now, officials don't want to talk about the project. Councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, who represents this neighborhood on city council, didn't return calls for comment. And Councilman Augusto Amador says he supported the WaWa, but declined to comment about his support.

WaWa also didn't immediately return calls for comment. Michael Oliveira, attorney for TonyMar LLC in Elizabeth declined to comment as well.

Gray, who said she has fought to keep prostitution and drugs of the neighborhood's streets, filed the complaint in Essex County Superior Court on May 22. The suit contends that the planning board approved the project even though a majority of the panel's members didn't vote to approve it.

From Transforming the Central Ward Through Political Action July 26 Wow my phone is blowing up about the WAWA meeting.... Posted by Broad Street Neighborhood Association on Thursday, August 10, 2017

When the planning board voted on the WaWa project on Oct. 30, 2017, three of the eight members voted yes. One voted no, three abstained and one was absent.

The association also argued that when neighbors spoke against the project at the public hearing, the planning board chairman cut them off.

And they contend in their lawsuit that the plan should be considered by the city's zoning board, since the company is asking to open a 24-hour business. And that the board of adjustment should take a look at the project because it has a wide driveway. A senior city planner says, however, that the area is already zoned for that type of business.

If the WaWa is ever built, it will include 58 parking spaces and 16 gasoline pumps.

This is not the first time Gray has fought against development she thinks would contribute to her neighborhood's demise.

In 2016, Gray fought back against Family Dollar opening up in the neighborhood.

Taylor Tiamoyo Harris may be reached at tharris@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @ladytiamoyo. Find NJ.com on Facebook