The city’s Planning Commission intends to have the final draft adopted by early 2027.
The Comp Plan acts as a blueprint for the city. In an exercise to identify Councilmember’s top priorities, they discussed preserving and rehabbing the George Reed Village and its affordable housing.
Newark residents are fairly consistent in their feedback on what they want to see in the city.
That includes limiting the spread of student housing into established neighborhoods, requiring more green spaces and further developing underutilized commercial properties.
There’s mixed support for allowing more flexible land use decisions, which could help with increasing the housing supply in Newark.
Newark Planning and Development Director Renee Bensley asked Councilmembers to consider the issues Newark has with missing middle- and entry-level housing.
“That is where there is a big deficiency in Newark right now, so whether that is looking at the existing focus areas and seeing if we should be more focused in getting plans for those, or if there are other areas of the city that you think it might be appropriate,” Bensley said.
Bensley added planning for more housing options would make the city more welcoming and accessible to people looking to get into the housing market and move to Newark.
Councilmember George Irvine said he would like to see Main Street and South Main Street’s zoning recategorized to allow for some residential units.
“Affordable housing growth could be targeted in this area,” Irvine said. “And that also creates attractions for the neighboring neighborhoods because cafes and the like can serve the folks who live like in Old Newark on South Main, for example.”
Irvine added he would like to see New Center Village rezoned to expand Newark’s walkable areas.
