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.”
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.
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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?”
