On Going Projects
The City of Newark is currently working on several exciting long-range planning projects. Projects of this magnitude involve developing different plan alternatives, working with community groups and, most importantly, input from the public. We encourage you to get involved in these projects and provide your input as the projects progress.
Proposed Redevelopment Project Area The City of Newark has used Redevelopment in the past; Redevelopment tools played a key role in the development of the New Park Mall. There is an existing Redevelopment Project Area, adopted in 2002 covering certain Industrial areas of the City. Redevelopment of areas is a critical tool that can help to energize our economy and improve the community. The Newark Redevelopment has been working towards adoption of a new redevelopment Project Area since 2008. The Newark Redevelopment Agency Board and the City Council of the City of Newark are nearing completion of the Redevelopment Project area adoption process. Drafts of a Redevelopment Plan and an Environmental Impact Report have been produced and can be found here.
Dumbarton Transit Oriented Development (formerly known as the Area 2 project). This project area includes 233 acres of land that has contained various industrial, manufacturing, chemical processing and salt production facilities since the early twentieth century. Newark today envisions a transit oriented community built next to a Dumbarton Commuter Rail station. The hope is for a neighborhood that takes advantage of its transit investment to facilitate alternative commutes, dramatically increase pedestrian mobility and to take full advantage of its location and surrounding open space resources. This will create a high quality of life community that is both unique and seamlessly integrates into the existing Newark community. Complete information on this ongoing project can be found here.
Planning Areas 3 and 4 This is an approximately 950 acre site located in southwest Newark and is generally bounded by Mowry Avenue on the north, Cherry Street on the east, Stevenson Boulevard on the south, and salt flats on the west. Planned uses for this area include an 18-hole golf course, approximately 1,200 housing units of various densities, and elementary school, open space wetland mitigation areas, as well as retention of existing light industrial, institutional, and City Fire Station, park, and community center uses. A complete history of this project including reports, plan alternatives, and information on upcoming meetings can be found here.
Housing Element Update. The City of Newark has initiated a process to identify sites for new housing in Newark. The State of California requires that all Bay Area cities update their General Plan Housing Elements by mid-2009. The Housing Element describes and guides each city’s approach to housing programs and new developments. Newark’s process for developing a Housing Element has involved three community meetings, in addition to meetings with the Planning Commission and City Council Information from those meetings is provided here.
A draft housing element has been prepared, and links to the housing element draft and related documents are here. The draft housing element was mailed to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on February 18, and the City is working to revise the draft housing element to meet HCD’s requirements. These revisions will include providing clarifications and additional information and analysis, but are not expected to result in change to the land use designations and intensities recommended in the draft housing element.
Old Town Infill Housing Study. In January 2008, the City Council authorized a study of the Old Town neighborhood of Newark to recommend future land uses, with a focus on potential infill housing options. The results of this study will likely be used to suggest sites for Newark’s 2009 housing element update.
A community meeting was held on March 5, 2008 to introduce this project to the public and hear their concerns and desires for Old Town. Based on the comments from the first meeting, as well as previous plans for the Old Town area, three alternatives were developed for future land uses in Old Town. These alternatives were presented to the community at a meeting on March 26, 2008 and are shown here.
Based on community comments, existing land uses and previously developed plans for the Old Town area, the project team developed a suggested alternative for future land use in Old Town. This alternative includes a mixed use core with less intense uses moving away from the core. This suggested alternative was presented to the community at a meeting on May 13. Links to the suggested land use alternative map, the presentation from the May 13 meeting, and community comments and questions are provided here.