The Newark360 Master Plan was a comprehensive planning process undertaken over the course of eighteen months by a multi-disciplinary consultant team led by WRT. HGA served as a sub-consultant and lead author of the Land Use Element of the Master Plan. The Land Use Element offers a vision of a vibrant, sustainable, equitable city with recommendations built on an extensive public outreach and visioning process.

The Land Use Element reviews the development activity that has taken place in Newark since the adoption of the current Zoning and Land Use Regulations in early 2015. The in-depth review of Planning and Zoning Board activity, the types of variances being sought, and the current development pipeline provides a baseline for future land use recommendations. The Element includes technical recommendations to expand the scope of permitted as-of-right development and to reduce the amount of activity directed to the Zoning Board of Adjustment.

The key concepts in the future land use plan include: creating new opportunities for housing development that will enable the city to meet its housing goals, including the provision of affordable units for residents throughout the income spectrum, eliminating parking minimums throughout the city and instituting parking maximums near transit, providing a wider range of locations for neighborhood-scale and home-based commercial activity, and redefining permitted industrial land uses to ensure a balance between economic development and environmental justice.