South Ironbound Resiliency Action Plan (Newark)

SOUTH IRONBOUND RESILIENCY ACTION PLAN

Prepared by: IRONBOUND COMMUNITY CORPORATION

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT AND ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE PROGRAM 317 Elm Street, Newark, New Jersey 07105

Phone: 973.817.7013 www.ironboundcc.org

And: AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION NEW JERSEY CHAPTER

COMMUNITY PLANNING ASSISTANCE PROGRAM P.O. Box 813, New Brunswick, NJ 08903

Phone: 848.932.2817 www.njplanning.org

AUGUST 26, 2015

TABLE OF CONTENTS Sections Page Acknowledgements i 1. Introduction 1 2. Public Consultation 6 3. Plan Components 7 4. Green District Demonstration 17 5. Plan Implementation 18 6. Plan Monitoring and Adaptation 22 Annexes A. Ironbound Resilience Implementation Action Plan 25 B. Policy Development Section of Newark Resiliency Action Plan 45 C. Known Contaminated Site List for South Ironbound 51 D. Examples of Using BID/SID or 501c3 Organization to Implement the RAP 54 Figures 1. Location of South Ironbound in Newark 55 2. Aerial View of South Ironbound 56 3. Notable Places in South Ironbound 57 4. Existing Land Use in South Ironbound 58 5. Vacant Lots and Abandoned Buildings in South Ironbound 59 6. Known Contaminated Sites in South Ironbound 60 7. Storm Surge SLOSH Category 1 in South Ironbound 61 8. FEMA Flood Risk Zones in South Ironbound 62 9. Demonstration South Street Green District in South Ironbound 63

South Ironbound Resiliency Action Plan ICC and APP-NJ CPAP

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This South Ironbound Resiliency Action Plan is an ongoing joint effort of staff from the Ironbound Community Corporation (ICC) and a team of volunteer planners and other specialists from the Community Planning Assistance Program (CPAP) of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Planning Association. The individuals comprising the team are listed below along with their project team role, home organizations and email addresses. My grateful thanks to the ICC and CPAP team for giving so much of their time, expertise, energy and creativity to this project. Tim Van Epp, CPAP Team Leader Ironbound Community Corporation Drew Curtis Director of Community Development & Environmental Justice [email protected] Mike Molina Community Resiliency Coordinator [email protected] Sadat Chipepo Community Organizer Community Planning Assistance Program Tim Van Epp, AICP, PP, CPAP Team Leader and Sustainability Planner Senior Sustainability Planner, Greener by Design [email protected] Chace Cottrell, AICP, CPAP Emergency Planner Former Principal Planner, New Jersey Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness [email protected] Mike Duffy, CPAP Microgrids Specialist Director of Energy and Sustainable Development, Greener by Design [email protected] Jennifer Gonzalez, AICP, LEED GA, CPAP Green Infrastructure Planner Senior Environmental Planner, Louis Berger [email protected] Gail Lala, CPAP Grants Specialist Senior Project Manager, Greener by Design [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]








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Carol Mendez, CPAP Brownfields Specialist Client Manager/Chemical Engineer, Greener by Design [email protected] Tom Schulze, AICP, CPAP Transportation Planner CPAP Coordinator, APA-New Jersey [email protected] Zenon Tech-Czarney, CPAP Planner/Urban Designer Project Manager, Rutgers Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability [email protected] Adam Zellner, CPAP Finance and Government Relations Specialist President, Greener by Design [email protected]






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1. INTRODUCTION Background. The East Ward of Newark is predominantly comprised of the neighborhood known

as Ironbound. ICC has been working in and servicing this neighborhood for 46 years and is well

known for its community action and organizing activities, from an unsuccessful fight against the

construction of the state's largest garbage incinerator despite the organization of thousands at

public hearings, to many successes, including the defeat of a second incinerator, the saving and

preservation of Riverbank Park, and the leadership role in the development of Riverfront Park.

These activities are essential to both the community's quality of life and the ongoing

empowerment of residents.

In recent years, ICC has been successful in turning the tide from simply battling poorly conceived

public and private sector development proposals to empowering the community to determine

its own destiny through community-based planning. During this time, ICC has developed a

community-based Master Plan, Recreation and Open Space Plan, Waterfront Park Plan, and an

East Ferry Neighborhood Revitalization Plan. These initiatives have been effective and are

significantly influencing public policy and private development. In 2012, ICC celebrated the

opening of Riverfront Park, Newark's first riverfront park along with the Mayor and County

Executive based on ICC's original plans. ICC has worked in East Ferry for the last decade and has

made significant strides in revitalizing that part of Ironbound, which has an average annual per

capita income of $12,000. Now, ICC is turning its attention towards a similarly distressed part of

Ironbound called South Ironbound.

As the name indicates, the South Ironbound neighborhood is located in the southern portion of

the Ironbound within Newark’s East Ward (Figure 1 -- all figures are at the end of the document).

It is adjacent to the Northeast Corridor Amtrak line and Lincoln Park neighborhood to the west,

the rest of the Ironbound neighborhood to the north, the Conrail Freight Train line, Newark

Industrial District and Newark Airport to the south, and the Port of Newark to the east (Figures

2 and 3). The land use of the neighborhood is comprised of a mix of industrial, commercial, and

residential uses, often all right next to one another (Figure 4). Based on the new Newark Zoning

and Land Use Regulations, the southern portion of the neighborhood is zoned for light and

medium industrial development and the northern portion is zoned for mixed use.

Two elementary schools, Oliver Street and South Street, serve the neighborhood, while two

affordable housing developments are in the center of the neighborhood. Pennington Court is a

large, low-rise public housing development comprised of 200 units, while Pacific Apartments is

an 80-unit Low Income Housing Tax Credit development, opened by ICC in 2010. Pennington

Court covers an entire large block with the residential building placed on the edges of the block

and a courtyard and basketball court in the center. The complex suffers from poor maintenance

and rampant drug trafficking. Furthermore, the buildings have been designed and placed to turn

their backs to the sidewalk, so that there are no “eyes on the street”. In addition, most of the

South Ironbound floods often, due to a combination of sewer back-up, major rain storms and


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storm surge. Commercial and industrial uses in South Ironbound include numerous refrigeration

facilities, auto mechanic shops, and salvage yards (Figures 2 and 3).

South Ironbound is a very diverse neighborhood. According to Policymap as of 2012, there are

10,500 residents in South Ironbound. 54% of the community identify as White, 11% as Black,

39% as Latino, with the rest being other races. 52% of the neighborhood is foreign born. White

residents are predominantly Portuguese, while a mix of Central and South Americans make up

the Latino base. Portuguese and Spanish are the languages that are predominantly spoken in

the neighborhood. Residents are mixed throughout the neighborhood, with Pennington Court

and Pacific Apartments being occupied by predominantly African-Americans and Latinos. 26%

of the neighborhood is under the age of 18 and 76% of the neighborhood rents. Two-thirds of

the neighborhood has household incomes under $50,000 and one quarter is under $25,000.

South Street is the primary east-west street in South Ironbound, connecting Route 21 in the

west with Route 1/9 in the east, extending about one mile. The land use on South Street is very

mixed and it changes block by block. In the west, there are residential buildings mixed with

commercial and industrial. Further east it becomes primarily industrial, as well as commercial.

Mixed in between are South Street School, Pennington Court, and St. Justine’s Preschool. Traffic

is heavy, and mixed with cars, trucks, and buses. South Street creates a divide between the more

residential areas north of South Street and the more industrial areas to the south and

pedestrians routinely cross South Street. All of this activity results in unsafe conditions along

South Street, for pedestrians, and for vehicles in this tightly developed area. In a recent city

pedestrian and vehicular safety traffic study, South Street was found to be one of the streets

with the most traffic accidents in the City of Newark.

Community Assets and Vulnerabilities

In the South Ironbound, it was clear that residents enjoyed the neighborhood’s diversity;

restaurants and cafes; distance to major highways and Penn Station; and what little open space

they had. The vulnerabilities found in the neighborhood were much more numerous and

worrisome. The issues identified by residents included:

Flooding due to sewer back-up, regular rain events, and storm surge

Extreme weather impacts

Air quality concerns, due to the high volume of trucks, the proximity of the Port of

Newark, Newark Liberty Airport, and nearby industry throughout the neighborhood and

located on Doremus Avenue, known by residents as “Chemical Corridor”

Vacant and abandoned lots and buildings, some of them contaminated or suspected of being contaminated

Littering and illegal dumping

Possible cancer cluster

Truck congestion causing numerous public health and safety problems


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Pedestrian safety

Crime

Lack of recreational space and activities

Lack of emergency and disaster preparedness or response Vacant lots and buildings are shown in Figure 5, flooding in Figures 7 and 8, and pollution from the industrial properties in Figure 6. Strategies. The Action Plan in Annex A is organized into strategic components relating to resilience, as follows:

Green Infrastructure

Brownfield Redevelopment

Crime Prevention through Urban Design

Complete Streets

Community Facilities Microgrid

Emergency Response Planning

Climate Change Mitigation Each component in turn is comprised of several major actions which are presented in the rows of the Annex A. The actions of some components comprise a step-by-step methodology or approach for implementing the overall component, while other components include actions that are essentially subcomponents which are not necessarily dependent on each other in a methodological way. In either event, each action is described by several parameters presented in the columns of Annex A, as follows:

Action

Type of Action (Policy, Capacity / Institutional Building, Physical)

Priority (High, Medium, Low)

Schedule (Short-Term, Medium-Term, Long-Term)

Responsible Party (ICC, Government, Community)

Funding and Other Resources Required (Low Cost, Medium Cost, High Cost)

Possible Financing Sources Section C below provides brief summaries of each major component of the Action Plan. Each component summary in turn includes several subsections:

Background and Introduction

Strategies and Actions

Multiple Benefits

Monitoring and Adaptation Capacity / Institutional Goals. The Newark RAP team will begin plan implementation immediately, by continuing to activate residents, convene policy partners, and look for “quick wins” in neighborhoods that show that needs are being addressed. Implementation funding from the Kresge Foundation would be equally split amongst the Newark RAP team (i.e. ICC, CWF, and


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NJEJA). Funds will be utilized for staffing policy development, community engagement, direct expenses related to the aforementioned, as well as pilot and longer term climate mitigation, adaptation and social cohesion measures in the City of Newark (with particular emphasis given to the East, South and West Wards), and in some cases, on a larger state-wide level.

All these climate resiliency strategies will only be successful with residential support and action.

In order to involve residents, ICC will be forming a Community Advisory Board (CAB) in South

Ironbound. The South Ironbound CAB will be made up of South Ironbound residents, small

business owners, and additional stakeholders that will meet monthly. They will work to improve

conditions and build upon the assets in the neighborhood. The CAB will do this by sharing

information and ideas, planning for action, and offering support for all South Ironbound

residents. The CAB will be a great opportunity to give the South Ironbound residents an outlet

for their voice to be heard while providing leadership opportunities for its members. The CAB

will ensure that social cohesion exists throughout the implementation process, will help monitor

the environment and keep ICC up to date with community needs, and adapt as needed. The

South Ironbound CAB will help monitor and guide adoption of this plan through a participatory

community mapping exercise that will extend throughout the entire neighborhood. Through all

of these efforts, the CAB will work with ICC to manage the implementation of this plan.

Institutional arrangements and financial measures to facilitate implementation of the South Ironbound RAP specifically are recommended in Section 5, Plan Implementation, below. In addition, there is an “Institutional” category of actions (i.e. short- to medium-term impacts) in the “Type of Action” column of the action plan table in Annex A. The action plan table also includes a column for “Responsible Parties” for each action which identifies the specific roles of the ICC, government (all levels), and “community members” (residents, businesses, NGOs) for each action row in the table.

Policy Goals. While the neighborhood work is essential to creating climate resiliency in Newark,

the overall Newark RAP project team realized that it must affect policy change and meaningfully

contribute to public-sector led efforts. That said, ICC, CWF, and NJEJA convened a city-wide

advisory committee made up of residents from each ward, as well as representatives from the

public, private, and nonprofit sectors that can provide resources or expertise in climate resiliency.

This committee, together with the core project team, has put together a policy agenda to drive

climate resilience in Newark and beyond. Annex B presents verbatim the Policy Development

section of the overall Newark RAP. Policy actions specific to the South Ironbound RAP are

identified as such in the “Type of Action” column of the action plan table in Annex A.

Impacts and Benefits. The Strategic Plan Components summaries in Section 3 below each include subsections enumerating the multiple benefits of each component. In general, these benefits stem from the long-term impacts of the RAP which in turn fall under the “Physical” category in the “Type of Action” column of the action plan table in Annex A.

Social Cohesion. As mentioned, the CAB will ensure that social cohesion exists throughout the


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South Ironbound RAP implementation process, in particular by prioritizing RAP actions that will

foster social cohesion, such as the green infrastructure demonstration projects, street safety

residential audits, complete street design charrettes and implementation projects, community

builds, public art projects, health and safety aide program implementation, tree plantings, and

training for and placing residents in green jobs. One specific pilot project that has been identified

and contains multiple social cohesion benefits is beautifying, greening, and adding lighting and

public art to underpasses underneath the Amtrak line. These areas are currently very unsafe and

flood regularly, so a project here could increase green infrastructure, make residents feel safer,

and build bridges between the Ironbound and the rest of Newark. Some of these projects are

further described below.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design. South Street is a mixture or residential, commercial and industrial buildings. There should be an effort to make sure that buildings add to a safe environment, rather than create areas where crime is more likely to happen. Strategies should include building designs that add to the feeling of safety and security, such as windows on buildings facing the street, especially at street level, effective lighting to reduce dark areas, and more retail on the street which would attract more people, and reduce the isolation. Underpass. Redesigning multiple Amtrak underpasses with lighting, green infrastructure, and public art. These are areas of high public safety concern. There is currently no lighting under these underpasses and the side walk quality is very poor. It is very unwelcoming for outsiders and it puts off many local residents from leaving the Ironbound. A lot of crime happens at all times of the day in these underpasses. Redesigning it would assist in bridging the Ironbound to the neighboring community. The lighting would assist with public safety concerns. The public art would engage residents in this project and make the area more welcoming. Some of these underpasses also face many flooding issues. Including green infrastructure would not only assist in beautification but also with as a way to mitigate some of the flooding and alleviate some of the air quality concerns (due to the amount of trucks that travel underneath these underpasses). Trees. A tree planting with residential input (on locations) and assistance (of installation) would assist many areas of South Ironbound, especially those on South Street and South of South Street. The tree planting would be great civic engagement. Trees would assist with flood mitigation, air quality concerns, and beautification esthetics. The NJ Tree Foundation is a partner that we have collaborated with on many tree plantings in the Ironbound but funding is necessary to create deeper tree pits for optimal mitigation. Bus Stops. A Positive Places Project is a form of Create Place Making. For South Ironbound, this would consist fostering civic engagement through the art of creating benches for bus stops. Currently, no bus stops exist in South Ironbound and residents have expressed bus shelters as a need. Organizing a consistent meetup where residents can show up and interact with fellow residents and local artists would increase community building. Funding would be necessary for things such as wood, building materials and equipment, and art supplies.


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Staffing. A Full-Time Organizer is crucial to the success of many of the initiatives in South Ironbound. A staff person is needed for organizing residents and orchestrating these events. Other responsibilities would be organizing tenants at Pennington Court and Pacific Apartment; discovering ways to build trust among the diverse South Ironbound community; create civic engagement in a community void of community activities and resident participation; organize for the environmental justice issues pressing this community. 2. PUBLIC CONSULTATION

With 46 years of history in the neighborhood, ICC understood the complexities of the South

Ironbound neighborhood. It was imperative for ICC to get clear input from its residents in order

to create a plan that not only reflected their needs but received their support on resilience

strategies that will affect their day to day lives. At the same time, ICC was graduating their first

Environmental Justice Leadership Institute (EJLI). EJLI was created to develop community

members into environmental justice advocates. Sadat Chipepo, a South Ironbound Resident from

Pennington Court, excelled in the program and proved ready to take on a leadership position in

the neighborhood. Mr. Chipepo was chosen to be ICC’s community organizer in order to further

develop neighborhood relationships, communicate effectively with local residents and

stakeholders, and to ensure the plan is representative of his neighborhood and its needs.

With an organizer in place, the community was engaged through community meetings that

were held in locations such as the Ironbound Little League Field, Pennington Court, Mi Ranchito

Social Club, and St. Justine’s Preschool. Surveys and public engagement activities were also

conducted by local residents and EJLI graduates to ensure that feedback was gathered in a

multitude of ways. We did encounter obstacles throughout our community engagement as

extreme weather in the form of snowstorms, standardized testing that monopolized staff at

both elementary schools in South Ironbound, a death of a student due to Meningitis and

subsequent health scare at Oliver Street School, and a major drug bust at Pennington Court the

day of one community meeting all delayed and/or altered our efforts during the process.

Nevertheless, through these outreach methods we successfully engaged over 150 residents,

small business owners, and neighborhood stakeholders to uncover community assets and

vulnerabilities.

3. PLAN COMPONENTS GREEN INFRASTRUCTURE Background and Objectives. The aging sewer infrastructure in the South Ironbound carries both wastewater and stormwater in what is referred to as a combined sewer system. During heavy rain events, the volume of wastewater often exceeds the Capacity / Institutional of the regional wastewater treatment plant located in Newark, resulting in localized flooding in low-lying areas and discharge of untreated wastewater into the Passaic River, known as combined sewer overflow (CSO) events. These problems are exacerbated by the large proportion of paved


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surfaces such as parking lots and buildings, which allow large volumes of stormwater runoff to flow rapidly into the system during the peak periods of rain events. Green infrastructure provides best management practices (BMPs) that minimize peak stormwater volumes by capturing stormwater where it falls, storing it on-site, and slowly releasing it into the sewer system. To improve water quality and public health, as well as comply with permitting requirements under the federal Clean Water Act, the City of Newark is developing a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) to implement solutions that will reduce CSO events. The City of Newark has drafted a Green Infrastructure Policy and Implementation Plan that provides a framework for moving forward toward required stormwater management goals in ways that maximize the community benefits associated with green infrastructure. Over thirty community stakeholder organizations and advocacy groups have come together to form Newark DIG (Doing Infrastructure Green!) to advance community-based green infrastructure solutions and policy guidance in Newark. Strategies and Actions. The actions provided in this plan for South Ironbound seek to leverage potential investments resulting from the LTCP, further the goals and implementation of the Newark Green Infrastructure Policy, and support the efforts of Newark DIG. These green infrastructure actions range from immediate, short term (< 1 year) planning and Capacity / Institutional building efforts that will frame long term strategic implementation of green infrastructure (5 + years), as well as providing for physical, highly visible demonstration projects that can be implemented in the medium term (1-3 years). Incentivizing on-site stormwater management through green infrastructure would leverage the City’s revisions to the sewer fee structure included in the Green Infrastructure Policy, while agency coordination to encourage green infrastructure supports maintaining the active lines of communication among the City, State, Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission and the member organizations of Newark DIG to develop a sustainable LTCP and advanced Green Infrastructure Policy. Demonstration projects include a Green Street on South Street and a de-paving / green infrastructure project at Pennington Court, located along South Street. These projects are immediate examples of the types of green infrastructure projects that would be recommended during the Neighborhood Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan. This plan will analyze existing sewer system and hydrologic conditions in South Ironbound relative to the applicability of available green infrastructure BMPs to determine the most effective locations for specific BMPs with an implementation agenda that identifies additional demonstration projects and actions. To create additional opportunities for the green infrastructure projects recommended in the plan, a “Greening Vacant Lots” program would be established to utilize existing city-owned vacant lots and acquire additional vacant lots for use as urban stormwater parks. A public workshop series would be hosted by ICC to educate business owners along South Street and South Ironbound residents about the benefits of green infrastructure, and a green infrastructure maintenance and installation training program would be developed for those residents who wish to turn their knowledge of green infrastructure into a job opportunity. The City of Newark and Newark DIG are key partners in all actions. Multiple Benefits. Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soils, and natural processes to manage stormwater and create healthier urban environments. Common green infrastructure BMPs appropriate for the urban context in South Ironbound include stormwater tree pits, bioswales, rainwater harvesting, and porous pavements. These BMPs can be used on individual sites or


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grouped together in a cohesive streetscape referred to as a green street. Grouping multiple green infrastructure projects in the South Ironbound has benefits of scale, in which ‘every little bit counts’, but the strategic implementation and aggregation of green infrastructure BMPs will provide cumulative benefits for the South Ironbound neighborhood. Reduced strain on the sewer system can result in benefits such as flood mitigation, reduced wastewater treatment or gray infrastructure needs, increased available water supply and improved water quality. Vegetative green infrastructure BMPs allow for increased groundwater recharge, improved air quality, lower greenhouse gas emissions (atmospheric CO2) and lower air temperatures which can reduce the urban heat island effect and lower both energy use and cost for air conditioning. These BMPs increase green space or open space which improves neighborhood aesthetics, can provide opportunities for recreation or urban agriculture, and improve habitat. Porous pavements can reduce the need for snow plowing, lower salt use, and mitigate noise pollution. At a neighborhood scale, they can cultivate community education and foster cohesive communities. Economic benefits include cost-savings for the City and its taxpayers, as well as the creation of green jobs, and economic development along South Street that would result from an improved streetscape and reduced incidents of flooding. Monitoring and Adaptation. Monitoring for implementation will be conducted by ICC for the green infrastructure program as a whole, with the following key benchmarks:

Year 1: o Establishment of the Green Infrastructure Workshop Series and hosting 2

workshops (one for businesses, one for residents) o Establishment of a Green Infrastructure Maintenance and Installation Training

Program o Establishment of the Greening Vacant Lots Program

Year 3: Completion of Green Infrastructure Strategic Plan o Implementation of a Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project at Pennington

Court o Completion of the Green Infrastructure Maintenance and Installation Training

Program by 4 classes of recruits o Construction of 1 new stormwater park on existing vacant City-owned property

Year 5: o Implementation of a Green Streets Demonstration Project on South Street o Acquisition and construction of 1 new stormwater park through the Greening

Vacant Lots Program o Implementation of revised sewer fee structure as well as policy changes and

incentives associated with the LTCP All demonstration projects will include a physical monitoring component in which the projects are designed with monitoring technology for stormwater capture and water quality, while trained green infrastructure maintenance and installation program recruits will maintain the infrastructure and photograph the projects every three months to document performance.


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ADAPTIVE REUSE OF VACANT AND ABANDONED LOTS AND BUILDINGS Background and Objectives. New Jersey state law (N.J.S.A. 58:10B23.d) defines a brownfield as "any former or current commercial or industrial site that is currently vacant or underutilized and on which there has been, or there is suspected to have been, a discharge of a contaminant." In addition, there are many vacant lots and buildings, which may or may not be contaminated, that affect the integrity and livability of virtually every neighborhood in South Ironbound. Together, these categories of sites comprise South Ironbound’s “strategic sites”. Strategies and Actions. The brownfields redevelopment component of the resiliency plan, based roughly on the Sustainable Jersey model, consists of three subcomponents that should be carried out in sequence: (1) inventory and prioritize the brownfield sites, including assessment of the remediation needs and costs of the sites under different end use scenarios; (2) plan for brownfields reuse according to redevelopment priorities identified, and area-wide plans prepared, through public consultation (e.g., Brownfields Master Plan Element, Brownfield Areawide Plan, or Redevelopment Plan); and (3) cleanup the brownfield sites with the planned end uses in mind and market the cleaned up brownfield sites to redevelopers and industries according to the adopted redevelopment plans. The APA-NJ CPAP team has begun this process by creating a map (Figure 6) and table (Annex C) of all the Known Contaminated Sites in the South Ironbound as well as a map of Vacancy (Figure 5).

Multiple Benefits. Paraphrasing Sustainable Jersey, cleaning up and redeveloping brownfield sites can yield the following benefits:

Improving the health and safety of residents by cleaning up polluted soil or groundwater

Eliminating places made unsafe by criminal activities and illegal dumping

Improving the community’s aesthetics

Increasing adjacent property values and augmenting a community’s tax base

Increasing neighborhood economic vitality

Adding to a municipality’s open space inventory

Making sites available that offer existing infrastructure

Taking development pressure off undeveloped land

Although vacant lots and abandoned buildings have been identified as a neighborhood

vulnerability, they also present an opportunity to increase climate resiliency in South

Ironbound. Lots could be re-used as pocket parks to increase green infrastructure, while

buildings could include stormwater capture mechanisms when being adaptively re-used. In

addition, buildings should incorporate energy efficiency and alternative energy as they are

re-developed. Even for existing buildings, energy efficiency and alternative energy should

be explored, such as solar panels for homeowners through a partnership with the nonprofit

Grid Alternatives and projects with multi-family housing at Pennington Court and Pacific

Apartments. Furthermore, both Oliver Street and South Street Schools will be getting new

facilities within the next two to five years, since the current buildings are both over 125

years old, thus presenting climate mitigation opportunities in the design and operation of

the new buildings as well as in the adaptive reuse of the old buildings. In this regard, ICC

will be working with Newark Public Schools, parents, teachers, and students on plans that


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build climate resiliency. ICC will also continue its planning by assessing all of the brownfield

sites in the neighborhood to determine a comprehensive strategy for their re-use.

COMPLETE STREETS Background and Objectives. South Street is the primary east-west street in South Ironbound, connecting Route 21 in the west with Route 1/9 in the east, about one mile. The land use on South Street is very mixed and it changes along the street. In the west there are residential buildings mixed with commercial and industrial. Further east it becomes primarily industrial. The traffic is considered heavy, and mixed with cars, light trucks and heavy trucks. There are also two NJ TRANSIT bus routes on South Street, the #40 and the #34. South Street creates a divide between the more residential areas north of South Street and the more industrial areas to the south. Pedestrians cross South Street to access to go from north to south and south to north. While there is some retail on South Street, it does not attract heavy volumes because the street is very unpleasant. It feels unsafe and is often ugly. All of this activity results in unsafe conditions along South Street, for pedestrians, and for vehicles in this tightly developed area. There is a need for strategies that will make South Street a safer, attractive street in the heart of South Ironbound that can attract more people to come to the area and support growth in local retail, which will in turn attract more people to South Street. Strategies and Actions. The strategies should include the following:

Designs that make the street safer for pedestrians, such as more prominent crosswalks, bumpouts at corners, especially for the north-south movements.

Traffic calming strategies for reducing the speeds of traffic along South Street, including traffic bumps, and bumpouts at corners to make the street more narrow. Also, strict enforcement of speed limits and the pedestrian’s right of way.

Consideration of bicycle improvements along South Street. While there are not many bicyclists today, the density of land use, and relatively flat terrain could make use of bikes a more realistic option for people traveling in South Ironbound. However today it is not safe so bicycling is discouraged. More bike friendly design could change that. The City is building a bike path that will extend along McWhorther Street. This bike lane could be extended to South Street, thereby creating a safe route for bicyclists from the heart of the South Ironbound neighborhood to the heart of the Ironbound’s commercial areas along Ferry Street and near Penn Station Newark. Community members have also talked about the need for safer bike routes along Railroad Avenue. Additional strategies for encouraging biking could include safe and secure bike storage at key locations throughout the Ironbound neighborhood, and community outreach to identify strategies that would make biking a more attractive alternative for people.

An education campaign for pedestrians and drivers. Pedestrians must become aware of the importance of crossing at crosswalks. Drivers must become more aware of the state law that requires stopping for pedestrians in a crosswalk.


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An anti-littering campaign that includes both clean ups and zero waste alternatives and, in the long-term, hiring residents to do street cleaning (particularly along commercial corridors) with funding sourced by ICC.

Multiple Benefits:

Pedestrian Safety

More pedestrian traffic

Multi-modal options for residents and business

Safe facilities for bicyclists

Slower traffic

More attractive surroundings along the streets

Stronger support for local businesses as more people will be attracted to the area. CRIME PREVENTION THROUGH URBAN DESIGN Background and Objectives. There are two dimensions to the issues related to Crime Prevention through Design. The first is the general condition and look of many of the buildings in the South Ironbound area. Many are ugly, with little or no relation to the street and sidewalk. Often buildings have few or no windows facing the sidewalk, and present blank brick walls, making the area's sidewalks isolated and unsafe. This work concentrates on the condition on South Street. The second issue is the effect that the Newark Housing Authority development has on the streets surrounding it. Strategies and Actions. South Street is a mixture or residential, commercial and industrial buildings. There should be an effort to make sure that buildings add to a safe environment, rather than create areas where crime is more likely to happen. Strategies should include building designs that add to the feeling of safety and security, such as windows on buildings facing the street, especially at street level; effective lighting to reduce dark areas; tree plantings, planters, and public art projects on the street; and more vibrant commercial corridors and street life which would attract more people and reduce the isolation. The Newark Housing Authority owns Pennington Houses on South Street, between Pacific and Dawson streets. The Complex covers an entire large block with the residential building placed on the edges of the block and a courtyard and basketball court in the center. The development seems to be well maintained, especially in the courtyard in the center of the block. The buildings have been designed and placed to turn their backs to the sidewalk. This looks like it was done to turn their backs on the public streets. While there are windows from the residential building face the sidewalks, they are mostly covered with curation and shades. So there is never a feeling that anyone is watching over what happens on the sidewalk. The sidewalks surrounding the entire block feel isolated and dangerous, especially at night. The ICC should partner with the Newark Housing Authority, Newark Police and the East Ward City Councilman to canvass residents of the area through neighborhood walk-throughs to clearly identify issues and then address them. Active involvement of the residents in the planning, implementation and ongoing evaluation of strategies is essential.


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A Special Improvement District along South Street would bring together business owners, and residents – owners and tenants – to establish the goals of the organization and select priorities for improving the area. The SID would oversee the four areas of interest of the designated organization: design, economic development, organization, and promotions. Funding would come from property owners as well as other sources that would give non-owners with an interest in the area and way to contribute to the SID and to participate in decision-making. The creation of a SID is a long term strategy. It will take time to work with the community to establish the best way to do it, to build support for the idea, and to establish the instructional framework to make it work. This could take longer than 5 years. However, the initial steps to begin building support for it should start immediately. Multiple Benefits. There are several important benefits of crime prevention through design:

Less criminal activity

More pedestrians on the street

Priorities that reflect the interests of business and residents.

A potential source of funding to make selected improvements. COMMUNITY FACILITIES MICROGRID Background and Objectives. Electric infrastructure is the backbone to several systems that provide other critical services such as communications, gas/fuel, water, sanitation, health, transportation, and public safety, which is why hardening and increasing resiliency of the electrical system is imperative. With an increase of heat and moisture in our atmosphere, weather-related natural disasters are projected to increase in intensity and frequency, which cause the bulk of power outages. As a consequence, significant risk may be incurred from prolonged electrical outages, which, largely because of storms, have been steadily increasing in frequency since 1995. Thus, a resilient electrical energy grid is needed that can adapt to large-scale disruptive events, and remain operational during system disruptions, thus minimizing the catastrophic consequences that affect quality of life, economic activity, security and critical infrastructure operations. Ironbound needs to address these challenges of resiliency to ensure energy infrastructures meet local critical needs during extreme events. A public purpose microgrid is defined as a series of interconnected loads, generation assets, and advanced control equipment across a defined geographic area that are capable of disconnecting from the regional electric distribution system and operating independently. A public purpose microgrid must provide uninterrupted electric service to a series of critical community assets across multiple properties, such as community centers, commercial hubs, and emergency service complexes. It must be owned in whole or in part by a third party entity and provide services to multiple customers. Strategies and Actions. The implementation of a microgrid is a large project which requires a rigorous approach and methodology. The Microgrids component of the action plan in Annex A outlines a recommended generic approach that is based on Sandia National Laboratories’ Energy Surety Design Methodology (ESDM). The ESDM framework has been applied at more than 25


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sites, primarily military, across the country in cooperation with over 20 local and regional utilities. The designs are up to 4 MW in size with up to 50% renewable energy penetration. Construction and demonstration of several designs have been coordinated with the US Army Corps of Engineers Construction Engineering Research Laboratory, while other designs have been implemented with other groups and utilities. The demonstrations have shown that energy management and resource control within a smart grid framework enhances reliability, provides resiliency to the energy system, improves renewable and distributed energy use, and is cost-effective in both grid-tied and islanded operations. Based upon engagement with a number of organizations that have studied the uniqueness of a community-based microgrid in which several users and stakeholders would participate, the following additional and more specific activities should be undertaken:

Define the overriding goals for the operational system such as supporting designated critical loads within the South Ironbound Community limits, as well as the performance objectives for the design.

Characterize the critical facilities for the microgrid application in cooperation with key stakeholders. Critical buildings are those that are essential for mission completion, and/or if were non-operational can cause significant losses (e.g. economic, human, etc. as defined by stakeholders).

Create a preliminary process to screen sites over a variety of criteria and apply weight to each category. This asset identification may include categories such as: (1) emergency response and flood control; (2) shelters, parking garages, pharmacies; (3) senior housing; and (4) affordable housing. The process should allow for relatively rapid ranking of candidates using objective criteria. Once the pool is narrowed, more detailed technical analysis can be performed.

Assess the energy profile of each critical building based upon collection of data such as: feeder information from PSE&G, transformer ratings, peak summer and winter loads (kVA, kW), distribution of critical and non-critical loads within each building, and existing backup generator ratings, overall fuel transport and storage capabilities, and ownership of critical buildings.

Determine ownership structure based upon the number of users, facilities, crossing of right-of-ways and contiguity of land.

Evaluate the relevant areas of public utility law, land use rules and business enterprise law.

Identify methods to monetize the microgrid via ancillary services to PJM (modulation of load, energy into PJM), enrollment in demand response programs.

Create a vehicle for procuring engineering, legal, and financial support, prior to final design.

Multiple Benefits. Microgrids offer several quantifiable and qualitative benefits to a variety of stakeholders in such categories as technical, environmental, and economical. The microgrid would be designed and built based on new emerging technology as opposed to conventional grid and equipment which are aging. Proven benefits include:


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Promotes and increases customer participation in energy efficiency, demand management and load leveling

Promotes community energy self-reliance and allows for community decision making about energy supply

Increases retail competition and consumer choice

Reduces price volatility

Attracts private investment, helping to spur innovation in energy products and services

Reduces emissions of both criteria pollutants and greenhouse gases

Increases economic development and supports employment

Provides safe haven facilities during macrogrid power outages

Complements, rather than competes with, the macrogrid.

Can be combined with and promote other initiatives, e.g. creation of an industrial green district

EPRI estimates that the cost of providing grid services for customers with distributed energy systems is about $51/month on average in the typical configuration of the grid in the United States EMERGENCY RESPONSE PLANNING Background and Objectives. This report was compiled by reviewing the plans and policies of the City of Newark pertaining to the planning, response, recovery and mitigation of disasters. Also, the ICC provided anecdotal information regarding their experiences during and after past events. The report is organized in four main sections – Planning, Response, Recovery, Mitigation – and is followed by a section that provides examples of funding sources. Several different resilience checklists and indexes were used to compile this report. The most prominent being the United Nations Disaster Resilience Scorecard for Cities (Version 1.5, dated March 10th, 2014), and the Resiliency Index created by the NJ Office of Homeland Security & Preparedness (NJ OHSP) and the Rutgers Bloustein School for Planning & Public Policy. The authors of this report are not affiliated with any of these groups, and the views herein do not represent the views of the United Nations, NJ OHSP or Rutgers University. Strategies and Actions Planning. Collaboration is essential to the planning, response, recovery and mitigation of natural or human caused disasters. Through the National Disaster Recovery Framework, FEMA has stressed the importance of communities involving not-for-profit and community organizations in planning processes, as these organizations provide everyday services to residents, and are uniquely situated to represent residents at a neighborhood level. In the past, the City of Newark has worked through a Local Emergency Management Planning Council (LEPC) that brought together elected officials, city departments and community groups to plan for the response/recovery to disasters. At the time of writing, it is unclear whether the City of Newark intends to continue its LEPC. If so, South Ironbound community organizations


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should ensure that they are represented on the LEPC and prepared to advocate for Ironbound residents. If the City of Newark does not choose to continue the LEPC, the ICC and other neighborhood organizations should form a committee that coordinates the planning, response, recovery and mitigation activities of community/volunteer organizations in Newark. The committee could distribute pre-event resiliency information, and provide post-event recovery services to Ironbound, as well as other Newark residents. This committee could act as a clearinghouse for information, identifying the needs of residents and matching them to available services. The State of New Jersey uses as similar group to aid in preparation and response to disasters. This group is known as the New Jersey Voluntary Organizations Active in Disasters, or NJ VOAD (https://njvoad.communityos.org/cms/home). One main function of this group is to provide preparedness information to its members/clients. Many of these resources are available digitally and can be distributed as such; a brief example library can be found at the end of this document. Response. Traditionally, and with good reason, response activities have been limited to health/safety and emergency management professionals. While civilians and community organizations cannot, and should not, respond to emergencies (e.g. fighting fires), they can partner with city response agencies to augment preparedness and recovery activities. They can serve as a valuable interface between city departments and neighborhoods, and augment City services where assets are thin. Often, when municipal budgets are stressed, it is up to the residents themselves to prepare for disasters. The ICC has taken steps to implement a grass roots level disaster preparedness initiative. The Health & Safety Aide program helps prepare the neighborhood by empowering residents to take charge of helping their neighbors during an emergency. This program utilizes volunteers to disseminate preparedness information prior to emergencies. Volunteers serve as an information gathering network to help ICC leadership prioritize their resources after an event. The Health & Safety Aide program is just one example of how citizens can take charge of their own preparedness. Efforts like Health & Safety Aide program are most effective when integrated and/or supported by similar projects. ICC should consider collaborating with other community groups in Newark to expand the program, and bring this vital service to all five of Newark's wards. Many types of disasters may require individuals to seek shelter outside their own homes. During Superstorm Sandy, the City of Newark operated one shelter at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center in the central area of the city. It is considered a leading practice in the sheltering community to open shelters as close as possible to displaced persons’ homes. Given that the Ironbound is home to over 55,000 residents, and the most densely populated of Newark's five wards (http://www.preserveamerica.gov/PAcommunity-ironboundNJ.html), it would greatly increase the overall preparedness of the neighborhood to have an emergency shelter located within its borders. A combined effort should be undertaken by community organizations representing the Ironbound, the City of Newark Office of Emergency Management, and the Northern New Jersey Red Cross (http://www.redcross.org/nj/princeton/locations/fairfield) to

https://njvoad.communityos.org/cms/home

http://www.preserveamerica.gov/PAcommunity-ironboundNJ.html

http://www.redcross.org/nj/princeton/locations/fairfield


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establish a shelter in the Ironbound. Also, neighborhood residents could be trained to operate the shelter during activation. Recovery. One of the most important resources during and after any disaster is accurate and timely information. Accurate and timely information helps residents make decisions about how to prepare for a disaster, when to evacuate or shelter in place, and when it is safe to return to their daily activities. When neighborhoods are damaged by disasters, it is crucial that residents receive information about the recovery process in order to start rebuilding as soon as possible. Knowing what recovery programs are available from the federal government, state and city are essential information to help residents rebuild their homes and businesses. City governments often serve as mediums by which recovery information is communicated to residents. Common methods include posting information on the city website, using direct electronic methods (email, text message notifications) and posting informational fliers around town. When this does not occur, it is up to community organizations and non-profits to ensure that recovery information reaches residents. The same forms of communication can be used, but community/non-profit groups must ensure that they are aware of, and participate in, the different county, state and federal recovery organizations that are active. Mitigation. Newark is vulnerable to flooding and other threats. These threats are addressed by the Green Infrastructure, Brownfields Redevelopment and other plan components detailed in the Action Plan Table. Multiple Benefits. Inclusive planning for response to climate-related emergencies will have the following multiple benefits:

Lends credibility to the community in applying for funding for the necessary facilities, equipment and personnel.

Provides an institutional and operational framework for responding to other types of emergencies.

Fosters community cohesion.

Facilitates and preserves sustainable development. AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT: ENERGY EFFICIENCY AND RENEWABLE ENERGY Background and Objectives. “Climate resilience” is the focus of this action plan and, in the Kresge grant context, encompasses both the community’s mitigation of locally generated greenhouse gas emissions and the community’s adaptation to the consequences of globally generated greenhouse gas emissions. Local communities have little control over global greenhouse gas emissions and limited resources to mitigate the GHG emissions released by their respective cities and towns; rather, states and nations are the more appropriate and effective government levels to address climate mitigation. This is particularly true for environmental justice communities with limited resources to address a broad range of adverse environmental conditions beyond climate change that impact their residents and businesses. Having said as much, however, it is incumbent on every locality to do their best to carry their share of the climate mitigation burden.


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Strategies and Actions. The actions outlined in the Climate Mitigation component of the action plan table in Annex A focus on promoting energy efficiency and renewable energy in the buildings and transport sectors which together account for a very large portion of overall energy usage and corresponding GHG emissions. The measures listed, with only a couple of exceptions, have been selected as being among those that are the most feasible and successfully implemented in New Jersey; they include:

Work with the City to understand what initiatives they have completed, ongoing and planned, then integrate further planning and implementation of the actions listed below into the City’s mitigation plans, organizations and budgets

Prepare a South Ironbound and/or South Street district energy conservation and efficiency strategy and climate action plan for municipal and ICC buildings

Conduct municipal and ICC facilities energy efficiency and renewable energy audits

Retrofit municipal and ICC facilities for energy efficiency and renewable energy

Review existing and proposed stationary industrial/power air pollution sources for compliance for with facility permit requirements

Work with residents to monitor air quality in partnership with the USEPA and NJDEP that both gets the regulatory agencies more data and builds the leadership capacity of residents.

Convert municipal and ICC vehicles to natural gas or electric powered and plan alternative fuel vehicle refueling / recharging stations

Provide education, monitoring and enforcement for restriction of through truck traffic in south ironbound, especially on south street

Continue addressing port diesel truck idling near South Ironbound

Attract alternative fuel truck / vehicle manufacturing facility to South Ironbound, or other manufacturing companies that produce green products using green materials and processes, then sign Community Benefits Agreements with them to ensure local hiring

(This is based on work started in the East Ferry section of Ironbound and an agreement with a company called Aerofarms that will be the world’s largest indoor farm and will make their hires through ICC.)

Plan zero energy district or eco-industrial park

Establish training and businesses to provide energy efficiency and renewable energy installation/retrofit services

Multiple Benefits. Climate change mitigation measures, in particular reducing energy usage, have multiple associated benefits, including:

Reducing operating and maintenance costs, leading to short payback periods relative to front-end capital costs.

Reducing emissions of other air pollutants, e.g. particulates, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, as well as the surface and ground water pollution, solid waste and soil contamination, typically associated with electric power generation.

Making renewable energy usage more feasible from the perspective of being able to provide sufficient renewable energy to meet demand.


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Creating opportunities for green businesses and green jobs. In general, climate mitigation measures can and should be implemented through, or in conjunction with, other local plans, programs and initiatives to achieve multiple benefits, and there are numerous examples of such plans being implemented in Newark and other New Jersey cities and towns. 4. GREEN DISTRICTS Based on the “hot spots” identified during the public consultation process (Section B), and the green district projects proposed under the various action plan components (Annex 1), two South Ironbound Green Districts can be delineated, one that is residential-commercial in nature centered around South Street and the other that is industrial-commercial in nature further south and adjacent to the Newark Industrial Zone. Such a green district concept would integrate and synthesize the separate resilience initiatives of this action plan into a cohesive, easily graspable and visible whole in the two areas. The concept will also provide a cost-effective platform for facilitating the institutional arrangements and attracting the financial resources needed to implement the plan’s proposed strategies and actions. Residential-Commercial Green District. The area bordered by Hermon, Pennington, Pacific and Parkhurst streets was selected as the residential-commercial green district due to the high concentration of issues and opportunities for improvements there (Figure 9). Some of the major issues include: crime, pollution, litter, frequent flooding and truck congestion. Based on the various action items, this plan proposes a number of interventions throughout the area such as adding more street trees, permeable surfaces, a pocket park, a green schoolyard, live/work infill development and a microgrid. These proposed interventions are meant to serve as an introduction to the possibilities that many more improvements are possible. Industrial-Commercial Green District. The boundaries of an industrial-commercial green district will need to be set after further study and stakeholder outreach, but it is anticipated that such a district would be located in the existing industrialized area in the southern part of South Ironbound. Many of the same issues and opportunities would apply as for the residential-commercial green district in identifying a specific propitious location. However, brownfields, stormwater, combined sewer overflow and flooding issues are expected to be more prevalent. The industrial-commercial green district presents opportunities for establishing a “zero-energy district” concept supported by energy-efficient buildings, some producing renewable energy and others using it, which would be facilitated microgrid linkage. The green district could also promote an “eco-industrial park” or “zero-waste district” concept in which wastes from one industry could be reused as raw materials for another. Similarly, the industries could collaborate in a stormwater association to plan and implement more cost-effective, district-wide stormwater management solutions emphasizing green infrastructure measures. Lastly, such a district offers the chance to recruit new worker-intensive businesses that would be consistent with or complementary to existing business concentrations in South Ironbound, e.g. food or automotive and/or to establish a new business concentration in green enterprises. Stakeholder consultation


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and market survey would be needed to determine the location, industry categories, mix of industrial and commercial, and structure for developing and financing such a district; this would be followed by recruitment of a developer, key anchor industries, and financing. 5. PLAN IMPLEMENTATION Each of the plan components described in Section C above represents a mini-plan with its own set of priorities, schedules, responsible parties, resource needs and financing sources for the actions comprising the respective components. In this way, ICC and the South Ironbound community could choose to implement individual plan components separately in view of priorities identified and resources available. However, there are many common or cross-cutting elements among the plan components which, if mapped and integrated, would offer significant benefits for implementation efficiency and effectiveness and provide for a more holistic overall resilience plan. A further phase of planning and public consultation will be needed to integrate the plan components into a cohesive overall action plan with priorities and schedule. The remainder of this section addresses the integration task from the perspectives of institutional and financing arrangements to implement the overall action plan. Institutional Plan. This section, in a very preliminary way, identifies and evaluates several alternatives for institutional arrangements for implementing the overall resiliency action plan. Further study and public/stakeholder consultation will be needed to better define and select alternatives for more refinement. The alternatives addressed here include a private industrial redevelopment, land bank, business/special improvement district (BID/SID), 501c3 organization (including ICC), and. Annex D provides summaries of how a BID/SID OR 501c3 organization could be employed to implement some of the plan components. Private Industrial Redevelopment. Another transitional key to facilitating redevelopment in South Ironbound will be attracting one or more significant anchor industries willing to take on the imperatives and challenges of the resiliency plan. Initiatives in this regard should begin immediately and proceed concurrently with ICC organizing itself as the 501c3 entity to implement the plan. One concept for such an anchor industry is one that manufactures short- and medium-haul electric trucks; this would bring a green industry to South Ironbound that could also serve to alleviate the port-related diesel truck air emissions issues that correlate with the high asthma rates in Ironbound. The task to recruit (or retain/expand existing) industrial anchors is identified as a high priority action in the action plan table in Annex A. Land Banking. “Land banks are “governmental entities that specialize in the conversion of vacant, abandoned, and foreclosed properties into productive use” (Alexander, Frank S., 2011, Land Banks and Land Banking, page 10). They were used extensively during the recent recession to address the extensive portfolios of foreclosed housing in blighted areas of US rustbelt areas. They have also been effective in addressing industrial and commercial properties, including brownfields, e.g. in Cleveland. A recent New Jersey land bank bill allows the government to declare that certain


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agencies are land banks, and to turn abandoned property over to them for redevelopment. The Housing and Community Development Network of New Jersey provides the following summary of the bill: Purpose: This proposal will give communities more control over underutilized properties and can be an essential tool in neighborhood revitalization efforts across the state. Bill Status: The bill has been introduced in both houses, and is sponsored by Assemblyman Coutinho and Senator Ruiz. In the Assembly, it was referred to the Housing and Local Government Oversight Committee, and in the Senate, it was referred to the Community and Urban Affairs Committee. Bill Summary:

This bill allows municipalities to designate redevelopment entities (redevelopment agencies, housing authorities or county improvement authorities) and nonprofit entities to act as a land bank on their behalf.

The municipality may convey city-owned properties and assign city-owned liens to the land bank entity, which may also acquire properties for the land bank through: o Gift or purchase o Acting as the municipality’s agent to purchase liens at tax sale o Carrying out lien foreclosures o Employing existing eminent domain laws

Land bank designation is accomplished through a formal agreement adopted by the municipality and the entity after community input. The agreement will spell out how the land bank will acquire and dispose of property, and how costs and revenues will be shared. It can be terminated by the municipality by giving one year’s notice to the land bank.

If the land bank is a non-profit, rather than a governmental entity, the municipality may exempt the properties the land bank holds on its behalf from property taxes.

The land bank is required to do the following: o Keep a registry of properties it holds as a land bank separate from other properties

it might own, and make the registry publically available. o Submit an annual report on its land banking activities to the municipal governing

body and the public. o Create a community advisory board, and adopt procedures to ensure the advisory

board has access to information and opportunity to provide input into the entity’s decisions.

Once designated by a municipality, land bank entities may serve the same function for other municipalities subject to a shared services agreement between the two municipalities.

A municipality may remit to the land bank up to 50 percent of the property taxes or payments in lieu of taxes collected for up to 10 years on parcels conveyed by the land bank to private entities, when the parcel has not paid taxes for two years preceding conveyance.


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Business/Special Improvement District (BID/SID). Implementing several of the plan components will be greatly facilitated by establishing a BID or SID, with the enabling sponsorship of the City of Newark Improvement Authority. Most of the plan components will benefit from establishing such an organization. Such a “one-stop shop” approach will also provide more assurances to potential funding and financing sources, attract those sources who favor larger, more transformational investment projects, and result in making more money available to implement the resilience plan. Disadvantages of establishing a BID/SID include:

It may be perceived as gaining too much power and favoring the interests of property (and business) owners above those of residents in a tenant-dominated residential community.

It may serve to discourage local government from providing adequate services.

It would not be eligible for some types of funding and financing, e.g. New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT) monies (see below).

With the extensive network of vacant and brownfield lots and buildings, the redevelopment central to this resilience plan will bring new, as yet unidentified, property owners and businesses into the community, so that establishing a BID may be less feasible or effective in the short-term

The creation of a BID/SID is a long-term strategy. It will take time to work with the community to establish the best way to do it, to build support for the idea, and to establish the institutional framework to make it work. This could take longer than 5 years. However, the initial steps to begin building support for it should start immediately. 501c3 Organization. A 501c3 organization can provide some of the same benefits as a BID or SID. Further, as an existing 501c3 entity itself, the ICC could serve as an institutional bridge to that time when one or more viable BID/SIDs can be established and their local employment and other social cohesion benefits will be more apparent to the community. ICC offers the advantage of being a long-established organization with the Capacity / Institutional, and history of community involvement and acceptance, to be credible for taking on these new responsibilities. ICC would need to get the City’s buy-in and sponsorship for this concept and show how it is consistent with, or does not contravene, existing Citywide programs for green infrastructure, brownfields and microgrid development, etc. Financing Plan. The action plan table in Annex A lists numerous potential funding and financing sources for individual actions within each of the resiliency plan components (green infrastructure, brownfield redevelopment, etc.). However, non-profit organizations such as ICC are well-positioned for obtaining a variety of funding and financing sources for developing and implementing climate change measures, and can focus on high-impact resources that demonstrate superior results, rather than targeting individual plan components or actions within those components. Thus, it may be more effective to identify holistic funding programs that allow for a broader integration of focused action items than have been outlined in the action plan. To


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this end, below are listed some initial possibilities for funding and financing further, more detailed planning, as well as overall plan implementation:

Kresge Implementation Grant: $200K, one-third would go to South Ironbound

Bayonne Bridge Environmental Settlement Grant to Newark: $200K, Ironbound portion TBD

New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust grant/loan: for stormwater management

HUD National Disaster Resilience Competition

Wells Fargo Regional Foundation: $100K planning grant; then 5-yr $750K plan implementation; then extensions

Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities Challenge

Prudential Social Development Funding

Toyota or Tesla: Industrial/Brownfields Redevelopment

Tax Increment Financing, PACE 6. PLAN MONITORING AND ADAPTATION Plan Tracking and Monitoring. The mission of the action plan’s responsible parties (ICC, City of Newark, et al.) must include monitoring and evaluating the completeness of action plan implementation on an annual basis, as well as monitoring and evaluating its effectiveness in meeting action plan goals and objectives on an annual basis. In conducting the monitoring, reporting and evaluation, the responsible parties will solicit feedback from relevant stakeholders. Based on this feedback, the responsible parties will assess whether changes are needed in order to speed and complete implementation of individual measures or to meet goals and objectives for effectiveness. The most systematic means of monitoring for implementation is to establish a tracking mechanism that utilizes two tables—one focused on implementation status and another measuring effectiveness. While the action implementation table will be limited to tracking the measures enumerated in the action plan, the effectiveness monitoring system will also capture phenomena that impact metrics from beyond the City’s control (e.g. reduced fuel consumption due to changes in vehicle manufacturing practices). As a result, the lifetime of the effectiveness tracking table will be longer than that of the action implementation table, providing continuity in future climate planning exercises. These tables could be organized by economic sector – representing types of stakeholders, then by type of initiative, and then by priority order. The tables will provide for each GHG reduction measure:

Short description of action

Estimated potential to achieve action goals

Parties responsible

Timeframe needed

Resources needed

Implementation milestones


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Implementation progress

The eventual detailed action plan (to be developed at the beginning of the implementation phase for this action plan) will provide full documentation of the derivation and description of the long-term goals and actions. Efficient monitoring of the action plan progress will require effective management of all the initiatives contained within the climate action plan. At a minimum, a timeline showing the steps toward implementation for each program, highlighting dependencies or concurrent activities is a necessity. Once this has been created, it should be the primary record of progress and inform when evaluation (or re-evaluation) should take place. This timeline should be updated frequently and is most helpful as an interactive electronic file (spreadsheet) or a stand-alone software tool. Resources for creating and maintaining this timeline are described below. Plan Reporting and Evaluation. To further facilitate action plan evaluation, the responsible parties (ICC, City of Newark, et al.) will meet monthly to review progress in implementation and effectiveness. In addition, the action plan committee will prepare an Annual Progress Report, including the results of monitoring for both implementation and effectiveness. This report could be organized similarly to the two tracking tables described earlier and provide for each quantifiable indicator its corresponding quantitative target, completion date set, what sector or stakeholder group the indicator applies to, and who is doing the reporting and to whom. The monitoring report will measure percent progress in meeting implementation and effectiveness goals, in terms of action goals, organizational involvement, schedule and budget compliance, etc. and will highlight successes and shortcomings from the past year, in an attempt to determine:

For implementation, if adjustments are needed in the actions’ responsible parties, priorities/schedules, funding/human resources

For effectiveness, if new or revised actions are needed, or if the indicators or targets need adjustment

Plan Adaptation. Based on the results of the monitoring and evaluation of the implementation and effectiveness of measures undertaken according to the action plan, or based on other new information, the monitoring team may regularly (or when needed) update or revise the actions, goals/objectives or means of implementing or monitoring/evaluating the actions. The updated or revised Action Plan would then be submitted to a vote by the responsible parties (ICC, City of Newark, et al.). Example of Plan Monitoring and Adaptation for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy. The responsible parties identified for each Climate Mitigation action in Annex A should monitor their respective actions for both implementation status and for effectiveness. Implementation can be easily tracked through a checklist of actions, milestones/accomplishments monitored for (e.g., energy efficiency equipment installed), people/organizations responsible for monitoring, monitoring method, monitoring frequency, etc. Monitoring for effectiveness is more difficult. Monitoring energy usage can be relatively straightforward with available building and vehicle fuel/energy usage measurement technology. Measuring reductions in GHG emissions can be


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complicated by not having sufficient financial resources to purchase the right monitoring equipment for point and areawide sources or staff resources to use it. Further, it can be difficult to separate out the local contribution to ambient levels of GHGs from other major sources in the vicinity, including regional transportation corridors and major industries, as well as the overarching global GHG emissions. Many tools are available to track various aspects of this climate action plan. The first priority should be a simple project management program that contains the delegated responsibility, progress toward achieving given tasks/actions, anticipated cost and percent of budget exhausted. In addition, specialized building management tools will help identify performance issues that would be considered in municipal building audit actions and solar energy projects. Energy Star Portfolio Manager is a free tool available from the US Environmental Protection Agency that allows portfolio-wide review of energy and water consumption in all buildings for which the a city or town pays utility bills. Finally, additional tools can help the city track reductions in greenhouse gases and availability of funding for various infrastructure improvements that can bolster efforts to reduce greenhouse gases. The following table describes some available tools to support tracking / monitoring and reporting / evaluation of climate change actions. The attributes of each tool are summarized in the table below.

Tool Name Purpose Vendor Cost User

CACP GHG Management

ICLEI $1700/year City

Energy Star Portfolio Manager

Utility Tracking US EPA Free City, delegates

Various Building Operations Management

Honeywell, Johnson Controls, etc., or Open Protocol Systems

Varies, may require long-term contract

City, contractor

Various Project tracking Microsoft, Primavera

~$500 for 1 license, more for site license

City, vendors


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ANNEX A. IRONBOUND RESILIENCE IMPLEMENTATION ACTION PLAN

Action Type of Action (Policy, Capacity / Institutional Building, Physical)

Priority (High, Medium, Low)

Schedule (Short-Term, Medium-Term, Long-Term)

Responsible Party (ICC, Government, Community)

Funding and Other Resources Required (Low, Medium, High)

Possible Financing Sources

Adaptation

Green Infrastructure and Stormwater Planning (Jennifer Gonzalez / Louis Berger) NOTES: 1. Based on Step-by-Step Guide to Creating a Neighborhood Green Infrastructure Strategy, Urban Water Infrastructure Agenda for Change Working Group: New Jersey Future, Johnson Foundation at Wingspread, Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation. 2. Coordinate with Newark DIG on all Green Infrastructure Projects

Host a Green Infrastructure Workshop Series: Provide education on mosquito prevention for existing stormwater detention basins, downspout disconnection, rain barrels, rain gardens, and trash and cooking grease disposal through two sets of workshops, one targeted to businesses and one to residents.

Capacity / Institutional /

High Short Term (< 1 year)

ICC: Host, advertise and organize workshops; coordinate with government and community members on workshop content. Government: Per Newark Green Infrastructure Policy, Economic and Housing Development Department will provide information to existing businesses. Environmental Commission will

Low Cost; potential partnership with Newark DIG, including Rutgers Cooperative Extension, and Center for Urban Environmental Sustainability. Potential partnership with local schools, NJIT or Essex County Community College.

EPA Community Action for a Renewed Environment (CARE) Grants Capacity / Institutional Building and Education Grants from private foundations


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hold a public meeting dedicated to green infrastructure. Community: Members of Newark DIG to provide content for workshop based on previous Green Infrastructure Workshop for Property Owners and Redevelopers.

Complete a Neighborhood Green Infrastructure Survey and Strategic Plan: Analyze existing sewer system and hydrologic conditions in South Ironbound relative to the applicability of available green infrastructure best management practices (BMPs) to determine the most effective locations for specific BMPs. Develop an implementation agenda with specific demonstration

Planning Medium Medium Term (1-3 years)

ICC: Secure funding for the plan and manage the project, coordinate stakeholder engagement and consultation with City of Newark. Government: Ensure that Plan aligns with City Green Infrastructure Policy and that recommendations of the plan contribute to the demonstration

Medium Cost; potential partnership with Newark DIG, PVSC and Rutgers Water Resources (Rutgers helping PVSC draft plans for all its communities)

NJDEP Combined Sewer Overflow Planning & Design grant 604(b) grant


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projects and actions to support the City’s Green Infrastructure Policy.

projects and other implementation procedures that the City policy encourages. Community: Participate in stakeholder engagement during planning process.

Implement a green street demonstration project on South Street

Physical Medium Long Term (3-5+ years)

ICC: Work with the City to apply for grant funding; outreach to business owners on South Street. Government: Work with ICC to apply for grant funding; City of Newark Engineering Department would incorporate green infrastructure into streetscape design; own and maintain the street. Community: Stakeholder engagement in

High Cost; need to consult with business owners, potential integration as a pilot into City’s roadway resurfacing program

City of Newark Roadway Resurfacing Program NJEIT Low Interest Loans for Green Infrastructure Construction Projects NJDOT TIGER grant EPA/NJDEP Clean Water Act Nonpoint Source Grant (Section 319 Grants) EPA/NJDEP Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund


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design process; potential “adopt-a-tree” style program to offset need for City maintenance.

Implement a Green Infrastructure Demonstration Project at Pennington Court

Physical

High Medium Term (1-3 years)

ICC: Advocate for the Newark Housing Authority to choose Pennington Court as a potential pilot project location to implement the City of Newark Green Infrastructure Policy. Government: Newark Housing Authority would design the site to remove pavement and incorporate green infrastructure; own and maintain the project. Community: Stakeholder engagement in design process; potential “adopt-a-tree” style

Medium Cost; potential integration with green jobs training program for maintenance

NJEIT Low Interest Loans for Green Infrastructure Construction Projects CDBG funding EPA/NJDEP Clean Water Act Nonpoint Source Grant (Section 319 Grants) EPA/NJDEP Clean Water Act State Revolving Fund


August 26, 2015 29

program to offset need for City maintenance.

Incentivize On-site Stormwater Management through Green Infrastructure Using Policy Measures. Implement City of Newark Green Infrastructure Policy, specifically as the Revised Sewer Fee. Integrate green infrastructure into additional policy measures such as establishing a Stormwater Association or District, Performance Zoning or Stormwater “Trust Fund.”

Policy Medium Medium Term (1-3 years)

ICC: Advocate for implementation of the City’s Green Infrastructure Policy and Revised Sewer Fee; advocate for new policies to further incentivize green infrastructure. Government: City of Newark interdepartmental Green Infrastructure Team and Economic and Housing Development Department explore new policies to incentivize green infrastructure for private development applicants. Community: Support ICC advocacy efforts and attend City

Low Cost; many models exist, would only require zoning changes, potential partnership with NJ Urban Water Solutions Working Group

ANJEC, Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Programs


August 26, 2015 30

Council meetings to encourage additional policy measures.

Establish a “Greening Vacant Lots” Transition Program. Integrate green infrastructure at city-owned lots per the City’s Green Infrastructure Policy and seek to acquire privately-owned vacant lots for use as “stormwater parks” with green infrastructure.

Capacity / Institutional

High Long Term (3-5 + years)

ICC: Identify vacant lots which could be acquired as open space; apply for funding to acquire lots and construct capital improvements; coordinate with City on ownership of new open space. Government: Per City’s Green Infrastructure Policy, coordinate with existing Adopt-a-Lot gardeners or with the City agency or its designee charged with maintenance of vacant City-owned lots not yet adopted, to promote installation, wherever feasible, of green infrastructure for use in

High Cost; would require dedicated, consistent resources to operate and maintain as well as capital costs to construct.

Foundations (possibly Trust for Public Land, New Jersey Conservation Foundation, Geraldine R. Dodge) CDBG funding Essex County Open Space Trust Fund


August 26, 2015 31

transforming the lots into public amenities such as gardens and pocket-parks; own and maintain lots. Potential acquisition of new City-owned open space. Community: Advocate for City to turn vacant lots into parks with green infrastructure features; advocate for City to acquire additional open space for use as “stormwater parks.”

Establish a Green Infrastructure Installation and Maintenance Job Training Program Note: Coordinate with other green jobs training and green business incubation actions under Brownfields Redevelopment, Communities


Medium Long Term (3-5 + years)

ICC: Establish the program; recruit participants; host training workshops; coordinate with Newark DIG members to facilitate the training program. Government: City Department for Workforce Development

Low Cost; potential partnership with Rutgers Cooperative Extension and Newark Vocational High School (ICC to choose right school – there is likely a school partner who

NJ Workforce development grants


August 26, 2015 32

Microgrid, and Climate Mitigation.

could sponsor the training program and apply for NJ workforce development grants to fund the program. Community: Members of Newark DIG, specifically Rutgers Cooperative Extension would facilitate training program.

would be interested)

Coordinate Agencies to Encourage Green Infrastructure Implementation. Coordinate with City of Newark and Newark DIG to implement the City’s Green Infrastructure Policy. Coordinate with PVSC to integrate Green Infrastructure into the City’s Long Term Control Plan.


High Short Term: (<1 year)

ICC: Advocate for agency coordination regarding green infrastructure; provide stakeholder engagement as needed. Government: Coordinate across agencies to implement the City Green Infrastructure Policy and participate in Long Term

No capital cost: would require dedication of staff resources but these resources are already engaged in agency coordination efforts.

None; no capital funding required.


August 26, 2015 33

Control Planning process. Community: Participate in stakeholder engagement activities.

Brownfields Identification, Cleanup and Redevelopment (Tim Van Epp & Carol Mendez/Greener by Design). NOTE: Based on Sustainable Jersey Brownfield Actions

Inventory and Prioritize Brownfield Sites:

Step 1: Create a brownfields inventory, including assessment of remediation needs and costs of sites under different end use scenarios

Step 2: Prioritize critical sites for cleanup and reuse, per human/environmental risk and reuse criteria

Step 3: Map the brownfield sites

NOTES:

This action will be partially completed by the NJAPA CPAP team.

Need to coordinate with any ongoing City of Newark brownfields initiatives.

Physical Capacity / Institutional

High: should come near beginning to be used as basis for land use planning, development project reviews, planning and zoning requests, redevelopment marketing tool, public education tool

Short-Term: 3 months for initial inventory; Planning dept. or Tax office updates every time a property changes hands and at least every 6 years for entire inventory; less time will be needed if outside consultants are used

Volunteers, municipal staff, and/or outside consultants; later tax assessor, property owners and Licensed Site Remediation Professionals (LSRPs)

Low Cost: depending on whether in-house staff or outside consultants are used; specialized expertise is recommended given the large number of S. Ironbound brownfields; see NJDEP Dataminer and SJ brownfields information resources section

ANJEC grant USEPA Brownfields Areawide and Cleanup Grants


August 26, 2015 34

Plan for Brownfields Reuse:

Step 1: Collect additional information for priority sites

Step 2: Hold public meetings to identify potential reuse options, according to established redevelopment priorities and area-wide plans

Step 3: Pass resolution supporting reuse option

NOTE: This action could take the form of Brownfields Master Plan Element, Brownfield Areawide Plan, or Redevelopment Plan.

Physical Capacity / Institutional Policy

High: eliminates eyesores and safety and health hazards; brings new investments and jobs; and increases community productivity, property values and tax receipts

Short-Term: less time will be needed if outside planning firm is used

Establish a Brownfield Reuse Committee composed of elected officials, municipal boards and commissions, community groups (ICC), business groups, residents, owners, site redevelopers

Medium Cost: Variable depending on outcome of brownfields inventory; possibly $30-50K; use of outside planning firm will cost more

Center for Creative Land Recycling (technical assistance grant)

NJDCA Neighborhood Revitalization Tax Credit Program

NJDCA NJ Small Cities Community Block Grants

NJ Redevelopment Authority

USEPA Brownfields Areawide and Cleanup Grants

Cleanup and Market Brownfields Sites:

Step 1: Cleanup brownfield sites per planned end uses and market cleaned up sites to redevelopers and industries according to adopted redevelopment plans

Step 2: Communicate brownfields redevelopment opportunities


High Short-Term: Up to 2 months to complete website information and up to 4-6 months to design and print materials for initial marketing campaign; continuing

ICC communications staff to adapt

Low Cost: depending on whether ICC staff or an outside PR firm is used and complexity of marketing materials; use of Brownfields SJ Fact Sheet template will reduce design costs

Regional Plan Association Local Urban Enterprise Zone Board of County Freeholders ANJEC grant Sustainable Jersey small grant


August 26, 2015 35

Step 3: Communicate and market municipal assets

as needed position priority sites

Crime Prevention, Litter Control and Community Improvement through Urban Design and Management (Tom Shulze / APA-NJ Jersey Community Planning Assistance Program and Tim Van Epp / Greener by Design)

Initiate Audit of Existing Conditions on South Street to determine the need for physical improvements that could make South Street and surrounding blocks safer and livelier

Physical Policy Zoning Capacity / Institutional

High Short Term Government: Newark Housing Authority, Newark Planning, Police and Traffic departments Community: Residents Businesses

Low cost: $50K ?

Initiate Audit of Pennington Houses bounded by South Street, Pacific Street, Dawson Street and Pennington Street to identify strategies to make the external areas on the surrounding streets less forbidding and desolate

Physical High Short-Term Government: Newark Traffic Department, Newark Housing Authority Community: Residents

Low Cost Newark Housing Authority

Establish South Street Corridor Special Improvement District (SID) and Downtown Management Corporation (DMC) or ICC as 501c3 and Join “Main Street Communities”


Medium: will help neighborhood be center of community life and preferred destination for people to live, work and visit: supporting

Medium-Term

ICC: Evaluate SID, DMC and ICC 501c3 setup options and advocate with community and City accordingly Government:

DMC can be run by small staff with oversight by volunteer board of directors and various committees

SID DMC could levy a SID tax on, or collect a fee from, local businesses


August 26, 2015 36

existing businesses; encouraging new enterprises; supporting complementary cultural activities; making downtown a safer, cleaner and more attractive pedestrian environment; providing adequate public parking; and preserving downtown architectural legacy

Work with ICC to evaluate institutional setup options Community: Provide input on institutional setup options

Provide Litter and Recycling Stations in South Street SID

Physical Capacity / Institutional

Medium: litter control could help prevent storm sewer blockages during storms, as well as reduce safety and health hazards and improve aesthetics

Short Term ICC: COA concept, esp. waste pickup and recycling responsibilities and costs, and advertising content control, and advocate with community and City accordingly Community: Provide input on COA concept and specification of

Costs to be determined

SID DMC could levy a SID tax on, or collect a fee from, local businesses

Sustainable Jersey Small Grants Program and USEPA grants for recycling

COA or similar organization can provide free public street litter and recycling stations, as well as ongoing waste collection, recycling, and public education services, in exchange for using the bins for advertising that they would market and take the revenue for (ICC could use them to advertise green themes) http://www.creativeoutdoor.com/

http://www.creativeoutdoor.com/


August 26, 2015 37

equipment and locations

Complete Streets (Tom Schulze/APA-NJ Community Planning Assistance Program)

Create a Community-Driven Complete Street Design for South Street that will safely accommodate all users of the street, including trucks, buses, cars, pedestrians, and bicyclists.

Physical High: plan should address infrastructure, safety and operational deficiencies on South Street. These improvements should also strengthen the economic vitality of South Street by spurring commercial growth

Medium-Term

Government: Newark Traffic and Planning Departments, Essex County Dept. Of Public Works, NJDOT Community: Residents, Businesses

Medium-Cost North Jersey Transportation Planning Authority New Jersey Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration Federal Transit Administration

Initiate Design of Traffic Calming Strategies on South Street to lower speed limits, use speed bumps, bump outs, enforcement of speed limits and pedestrian right of way while ensuring traffic circulation works well

Capacity / Institutional Physical

High

Medium- Term

Government: Newark Traffic and Planning Departments

City of Newark, NJTPA, NJDOT

Construct the Complete Street Improvements on South Street that come out of the community-driven design work

Physical

Medium

Long-Term Government: NJTPA, Newark Police and Traffic Departments

City of Newark


August 26, 2015 38

including pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and crosswalks, appropriate street furniture, transit stops, and bike friendly streets and storage Apply to NJTPA for a Street Smart Campaign for South Street


High

Short-Term Government: Newark Traffic and Planning Departments

Little or no funding needed

NJTPA runs this program

Construct Bike Lanes and Storage at Key Location along South Street

Physical

High

Medium-Term

Government: Newark Traffic Department

Low Cost

City of Newark

Community Facilities Microgrid Development (Mike Duffy and Gail Lalla / Greener by Design)

Assess Critical Assets and Loads (i.e., Emergency Shelters in Place, Fire Stations, Police Stations, Hospitals, Pharmacies, Senior Housing)

Physical High Short-Term Ironbound, City of Newark (Engineering), Local Institutions

Low Cost: potential partnership with local universities to conduct study

LGEA; ESCOs/ 3rd party financing;

Assess Potential Threats (i.e., Storm Surge, Power-Failure, Cyber Attack)

Physical High Short-Term Ironbound, City of Newark, Local Institutions

Low Cost: potential partnership with local universities to conduct study

Private financing, monetize insurance savings

Explore Options to Improve Resiliency (i.e., Distributed Energy Resources, Asset Hardening, Movement from Flood Zone)

Physical Medium Short-Term Ironbound, City of Newark

Low Cost NJ BPU, Energy Resiliency Bank, HUD CDBG funding with Rebuild by Design,


August 26, 2015 39

Develop Conceptual Design

Physical Medium Short-Term Ironbound, City of Newark, Possibly local utility

Medium Cost: Possible partnership with local utility

Energy Resiliency Bank; NJ Board of Public Utilities; PACE

Solicit Design (i.e., Procure DBOM – Design Build Operate Maintain)

Physical Medium Short-Term Ironbound, City of Newark

Low Cost In-kind

Select Design Physical Medium Short-Term City of Newark Low Cost Department of Energy grants for R&D and upcoming FOA’s

Implement Design Physical High Medium-Term

City of Newark, Local Utility

High Cost: possible partnership with local utility as infrastructure upgrade

Energy Resiliency Bank/BPU; Private investment; Power purchase agreements

Outreach to Stakeholders


Low Short-Term Ironbound Low Cost Private organizations, foundations and private grant-givers (Environmental Defense Fund)

Social Cohesion

Social Cohesion Inputs (Michael Molina / Ironbound Community Corporation)

Underpasses Physical Medium Amtrak – Long ICC – Short

ICC, Amtrak Amtrak – Lighting, Sidewalk Improvement Rutgers Cooperative Extension – Green Design ICC – Events, Staff Community – Artists, Volunteers

Amtrak, Local Business Owners, Outside Grants, Newark DIG/Rutgers Cooperative Extension


August 26, 2015 40

Trees Physical Medium Short Term ICC, NJ Tree Foundation

ICC, Trees from NJ Tree Foundation

NJ Tree Foundation, Outside grant

Bus Stops Physical High Medium Term

ICC, City of Newark, private bus shelter contractor

Funding for materials : wood, equipment, art supplies, sponsorship of sheters

Outside Grants

Staffing Institutional High Medium Term

ICC Funding for Full-Time Organizer

Outside Grants

Emergency Response Planning (Chace Cottrell / formerly New Jersey State Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Response) NOTE: Based on NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness Resiliency Index Work with Newark Police Department/Newark Parking Authority to Ensure Commercial Traffic Does Not Impede Flow of Emergency Vehicles

Policy High 3 months – 1 year

ICC, City of Newark

City Budget

Ensure The Ironbound Neighborhood Has Representation on the Newark LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee)

Policy Medium N/A ICC, Newark Office of Emergency Management

1 staff member to attend quarterly meetings

N/A

Create a Neighborhood-Based Emergency Planning /Safety Committee that Includes Residents, Businesses, Non-Profit

Institutional Medium 6 months – 1 year

ICC, American Red Cross, Salvation Army, neighborhood social organizations, church

2 staff to establish and manage committee

Citizen Corp Grants http://www.ready.gov/citizen-corps/citizen-corps-grant-information-and-financial-resources

http://www.ready.gov/citizen-corps/citizen-corps-grant-information-and-financial-resources




August 26, 2015 41

Organizations and City Officials (Following Major Events this Committee Can Switch to a Recovery Mission)

organizations, private sector business owners

Create Family Preparedness Campaign to Educate Residents on Preparing and Acting during Different Types of Emergencies (e.g., Heat Waves, Power Outages, Evacuation)

Public Information

High 6 months ICC, Newark OEM 1 staff to develop, 2 staff to coordinate distribution

Work with Newark Office of Emergency Management To Create A CERT Program

Institutional Medium 1-2 years ICC, Newark OEM, New Jersey OEM, Essex County OEM

City Budget (CERT programs requires members to be covered under City’s insurance)

Create Business Preparedness Guide to Educate Local Business Owners about Emergency Preparedness

Public Information

Medium 1-2 years ICC

Climate Mitigation: Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (Tim Van Epp / Greener by Design) NOTE: This task should be coordinated with the City of Newark Energy Efficiency and Conservation Strategy and Climate Action Plan

Prepare South Ironbound or South Street District Energy Conservation and Efficiency Strategy (EECS) and Climate Action Plan (CAP) for Municipal and ICC Buildings:

Policy High – all the other mitigation measures can stem from this strategy

3 months City of Newark Office of Sustainability, ICC, Other South Ironbound Community Stakeholders

$10K New Jersey Clean Energy Program (NJCEP) has numerous incentive programs, e.g. Local Government Energy Audit (LGEA) and Direct Install (DI) programs, available to the City of Newark, including municipal buildings, public schools, libraries, fire departments, parking authorities, et al. and third parties performing


August 26, 2015 42

Use USDOE EECBG EECS guidelines and SJ CAP guidelines to create South Ironbound / South Street elements to existing City of Newark EECS and CAP

energy performance assessments on behalf of the City

Conduct Municipal (and ICC) Facilities Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Audits

Physical Medium – will set a good example for other institutional, commercial and residential buildings

6 months City of Newark Office of Sustainability, ICC, Other South Ironbound Community Stakeholders

$30-40K NJCEP LGEA and DI programs (see above)

Retrofit Municipal (and ICC) Facilities for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

Physical Medium – will set a good example for other institutional, commercial and residential buildings

1 year City of Newark Office of Sustainability, ICC, Other South Ironbound Community Stakeholders

Depends on number of buildings and retrofits recommended

NJCEP LGEA and DI programs (see above)

Review Stationary / Industrial/Power Air Pollution Sources for Compliance for Regional Air Quality Permit Requirements

Capacity / Institutional Building

Medium – may help limit CO2 emissions as well as conventional and hazardous air pollutants

1 year ICC: Access NJDEP data base of sources, review permit conditions and inspection and enforcement status, set priorities, then advocate for DEP action Government: NJDEP conduct

No capital costs, staff time only

No special financing needed


August 26, 2015 43

monitoring, inspections and enforcement

Convert Municipal (and ICC) Vehicles to Natural Gas or Electric Powered and Plan Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling / Recharging Stations

Policy and Physical

Medium – this will set a good example for commercial car and truck fleets in South Ironbound

6 months City of Newark and ICC

Depends on fleet size ($? / vehicle)

Resource: NJ Clean Cities Coalition (Chuck Feinberg, Executive Vice President, Greener by Design, is Director)

Restrict through Truck Traffic in South Ironbound, esp. South Street Note: Coordinate with South Street Corridor traffic calming action.

Policy and Institutional

High – this will be prerequisite for bringing people and businesses to the South Street corridor

3 months ICC: Advocate for City action Government: City of Newark Traffic and Streets study

No capital cost; staff time only

Dodge Foundation grant SJ Small Grants Program ANJEC grant

Continue Addressing Port Diesel Truck Idling near Ironbound: Work with PANYNJ and ports to limit port diesel truck idling, enforcing new anti-idling signs and advocating for switch to alternative fuel / electric trucks


High – high incidence of asthma is a very serious local health problem with truck traffic being a very likely major contributor

Ongoing ICC, PANYNJ, NJDEP

ICC EJ Specialist time ongoing

Combine with grants for above action NOTE: Greener by Design has worked for Ports on air pollution issues.

Attract Alternative Fuel Truck / Vehicle Manufacturing Facility to South Ironbound Note: This could be combined with ZED action below.


August 26, 2015 44

Plan Zero Energy District (ZED) or Eco-industrial Park (EIP):

Combine buildings in close proximity able to generate electric or heat energy with those able to use it.

This can be done in conjunction with the Microgrid action to supply critical community facilities during emergencies.

Policy, Institutional and Physical

Medium – this represents a value-added and synergistic opportunity that would require and engender community and business partnerships that will create social cohesion

1 year ICC, Industry Clusters, Other South Ironbound Community Stakeholders

$20-25K for initial concept / action plan

Dodge Foundation grant SJ Small Grants Program ANJEC grant USDOE and USEPA grants

Establish Training and Businesses to Provide Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Installation/Retrofit Services Adaptively reuse an existing vacant / brownfield building, ideally in above ZED/EIP, as combined green businesses incubator / green jobs training facility and community emergency response center/shelter


High – will increase local job opportunities and social cohesion

1 year ICC, Combine with above ZED/EIP initial concept / action plan

Combine with grants for above action


August 26, 2015 45

ANNEX B. POLICY DEVELOPMENT SECTION OF NEWARK RESILIENCY ACTION PLAN

While the neighborhood work is essential to creating climate resiliency in Newark, the project

team realized that it must affect policy change and meaningfully contribute to public-sector led

efforts. That said, ICC, CWF, and NJEJA convened a city-wide advisory committee made up of

residents from each ward, as well as representatives from the public, private, and nonprofit

sectors that can provide resources or expertise in climate resiliency. This committee, together

with the core project team, has put together the following policy agenda to drive climate resilience

in Newark and beyond.

State-Level Policy: The Sandy Climate Justice Roundtable

The Sandy Climate Justice Roundtable brought together residents of environmental justice (EJ)

communities, i.e. communities of color and low-income communities, in New Jersey and

representatives of groups that work with them to discuss climate change adaptation from an EJ

perspective. NJEJA was the lead organizer of the Roundtable, which met in the fall of 2013 and

spring of 2014, and produced a set of recommendations and findings that would protect EJ

communities, and help them recover, from the detrimental impacts of climate change. The

recommendations, a description of the Roundtable and a set of findings are contained in a report

written by a NJEJA member that appears on the website of the New Jersey Climate Adaptation

Alliance, which is organized by Rutgers University.1 NJEJA created the Roundtable but did not have

the resources to create an implementation campaign for the Roundtable recommendations. The

implementation of Newark RAP will build on the Roundtable through three regional meetings.

These meetings will take place in Newark, Trenton, and Long Branch during the fall of 2015 and

winter of 2015-2016. NJEJA has also developed a short document that prioritizes the

recommendations and will be used to gain additional endorsements for the recommendations

and to recruit additional participants for these future Roundtable meetings. A number of

organizations have been identified that will be specifically recruited to participate in the future

Roundtable activities which will include the development and implementation of a campaign

intended to result in the adoption of the recommendations. The campaign will involve interacting

with local, state, and federal governmental officials.

While the Roundtable focused on adaptation, it also discussed climate change mitigation and this

is reflected in its recommendations and findings. NJEJA has played a prominent role on both a

state and national level in helping the EJ community develop positions on climate change

mitigation policy, especially on carbon-trading and EPA’s proposed climate change rule (the Clean

Power Plan). Future Roundtable meetings will discuss these topics in some detail so that New

Jersey EJ communities are substantively prepared to participate in the development of the state

implementation plan mandated by EPA’s Clean Power Plan

1 http://njadapt.rutgers.edu/resources/njcaa-reports

http://njadapt.rutgers.edu/resources/njcaa-reports


August 26, 2015 46

and in discussions on whether New Jersey should participate in the Regional Greenhouse Gas

Initiative (RGGI).

RGGI is a northeast regional carbon trading program in which NJ was formerly a participant, but

from which it eventually withdrew. A new part of the Roundtable will involve the Newark RAP

team convening a small meeting between the New Jersey EJ and environmental communities to

discuss New Jersey’s participation in RGGI. NJEJA and EJ organizations around the country have

opposed carbon trading for various reasons.NJEJA and Newark RAP team will take the position

that the NJ EJ and environmental communities should coalesce around utilization of NJ’s Global

Warming Response Act and an extensive use of renewable energy and energy efficiency, especially

in urban areas and EJ communities,2 to mitigate climate change and not fight to rejoin RGGI. This

strategy would also achieve multiple benefits, such as improving the health of EJ and other

communities by reducing criteria pollutant emissions and spurring economic development in

neighborhoods that sorely need it.

Another Roundtable recommendations is that:

“Local residents, community groups and EJ groups should be intricately involved in creating

and implementing community level emergency and climate change adaptation plans, and

the state should make funding available that ensures their participation.”

This recommendation would not only improve the adaptive capability of communities, but would

do so in a way that improves social cohesion since it would require residents, local nonprofit

groups, and government to work closely together. As envisioned here, the upcoming Roundtable

process will involve organizing three regional meetings that target the participation of local

residents and community groups. The process of bringing these stakeholders together, the

meeting themselves, and the subsequent campaign will deepen relationships established at

previous Roundtable meetings and create new relationships with groups and people joining the

Roundtable for the first time.

Municipal Level Policy: EJ and Cumulative Impacts Municipal Ordinance

On a local level, the Newark RAP team will continue their advocacy efforts for the passage an EJ

and Cumulative Impacts Municipal Ordinance. NJEJA led the development of the Ordinance and is

working with ICC and CWF to have it adopted in Newark. Once enacted in Newark, NJEJA will use

Newark as a model and lead efforts to have it enacted in other New Jersey cities. This Ordinance

requires the municipality to create an environmental resource inventory that contains pollution

sources, health data, environmental assets and demographic information. It also mandates,

among other things that proposed new activities detail the amount and type of pollution they will

emit. In essence, the Ordinance will ensure that city residents and officials will be armed with the

information they need to

2 Significantly increasing the use of energy efficiency and renewable energy in urban areas is a Roundtable recommendation that Roundtable participants believed was both an adaptation and mitigation strategy.


August 26, 2015 47

determine the environmental and health impact of new projects. Residents and city officials will

therefore be able to make an informed decision on whether these projects will be in the best

interests of the city. The Ordinance will also ask proponents of new projects if they have taken

steps to mitigate project related pollution emissions and by publicly raising this issue should

maximize mitigation efforts.

The Ordinance should also yield adaptation, mitigation, and social cohesion benefits. It will protect

the adaptive capacity of Newark neighborhoods by minimizing the amount of pollution produced

by future projects that will occur within the city limits. One reason EJ communities are especially

vulnerable to the detrimental impacts of climate change is because they tend to suffer from a

disproportionately large pollution burden. This pollution makes them more vulnerable to climate

change impacts such as increased air pollution, an increased incidence of certain communicable

diseases and flooding that leaves behind toxic residue. By protecting Newark neighborhoods from

future pollution, the Ordinance will also be protecting them make them from climate change

effects. The Ordinance will increase mitigation by weeding out projects that pollute excessively

and maximizing pollution mitigation efforts of new projects in Newark that go forward. Increased

social cohesion should also be an important by-product of enacting the EJ and Cumulative Impacts

ordinance. The Ordinance will accomplish this in at least two ways. First, the added information

the Ordinance produces should increase public discussion and debate about the impacts of

proposed new activities on the quality of life in Newark. This increased discourse will deepen

relationships between Newark residents, and between residents and city officials. Second, the

Newark RAP team is considering creating a community level segment of the environmental

resource inventory required by the Ordinance. The initial and “primary” portion of the

environmental resource inventory will most likely be created by searching online sources and

permit applications for information. But NJEJA, ICC, and CWF are considering attempting to

supplement the primary environmental resource inventory with mapping of small pollution

sources on a neighborhood level. This neighborhood mapping would directly involve

neighborhood residents and would therefore be a vehicle for community organizing and

significant improvements in social cohesion.

Green Infrastructure Policy

The aging sewer infrastructure in the City of Newark carries both wastewater and stormwater in

what is referred to as a combined sewer system. During heavy rain events, the volume of

wastewater often exceeds the capacity of the combined sewer system and the regional

wastewater treatment plant located in Newark, resulting in localized flooding in low-lying areas

and discharge of untreated wastewater into the Passaic River and Newark Bay, known as

combined sewer overflow (CSO) events. These problems are exacerbated by the large proportion

of paved surfaces such as parking lots and buildings, which allow large volumes of stormwater

runoff to flow rapidly into the system during the peak periods of rain events. Green infrastructure

is a preferred frontline method of mitigating stormwater challenges due to its multiple public

benefits such as improvement


August 26, 2015 48

of public space and enhancement of climate resilience. Green infrastructure uses vegetation, soils,

and natural processes to manage stormwater and create healthier urban environments. Common

green infrastructure techniques appropriate for the urban context in Newark include stormwater

tree pits, bioswales, rainwater harvesting, and permeable pavements. These strategies can be

used on individual sites or grouped together in a cohesive streetscape referred to as a green street.

Grouping multiple green infrastructure projects in Newark has benefits of scale, in which ‘every

little bit counts’, but the strategic implementation and aggregation of green infrastructure will

provide cumulative benefits. Green infrastructure proves beneficial in low lying areas of the city,

like South Ironbound and the Dayton Street Neighborhood, and also in higher elevations, such as

Upper Clinton Hill, Vailsburg, and Fairmount.

To improve water quality and public health, as well as comply with permitting requirements under

the federal Clean Water Act and New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection permit on

Combined Sewer Outfalls, the City of Newark is developing a Long Term Control Plan (LTCP) to

implement solutions that will reduce CSO events. The City of Newark has drafted a Green

Infrastructure Policy and Implementation Plan that provides a framework for moving forward

toward required stormwater management goals in ways that maximize the community benefits

associated with green infrastructure.

Over thirty community stakeholder organizations and advocacy groups have come together to

form Newark DIG (Doing Infrastructure Green!) to advance community-based green infrastructure

solutions and policy guidance in Newark. Both ICC and CWF are steering committee members of

Newark DIG and play a leadership role in advancing the efforts.

Furthermore, ICC and CWF will bring added resources through their leadership role in a statewide

Urban Water Solutions group that will provide technical assistance to Newark DIG and other CSO,

and non-CSO, municipalities through the state.

Newark DIG is working to assist the City of Newark with its LTCP. The new permit requires

regulated entities to invite members of the affected public to establish a “Supplemental CSO

Team” to work as an informal group between the general public and the decision makers for the

permittee in the development of the CSO Operation & Maintenance Program and the LTCP. The

actions described in Newark RAP’s plan seek to leverage potential investments resulting from the

LTCP, further the goals and implementation of the Newark Green Infrastructure Policy, and

support the efforts of Newark DIG. Incentivizing on-site stormwater management through green

infrastructure would leverage the City’s revisions to the sewer fee structure included in the Green

Infrastructure Policy, while agency coordination to encourage green infrastructure supports

maintaining the active lines of communication among the City, State, Passaic Valley Sewerage

Commission, and the member organizations of Newark DIG to develop a sustainable LTCP and

advanced Green Infrastructure Policy.


August 26, 2015 49

Climate Resiliency, Disaster Preparedness, and Emergency Response

Newark is a frontline community that is very vulnerable to climate related emergency disasters.

Among them are flooding and extreme weather events. Both the East Ward and South Ward

find themselves in FEMA-designated Flood Zones. While the aforementioned flooding events

due to heavy rainfall and CSOs are common in Newark, tropical storms and hurricanes such as

Hurricanes Irene and Sandy introduced another a new danger that the City of Newark was not

prepared for. Additionally, urban heat island is a hazard that impacts Newark and its residents

on a yearly basis. The 3ºC average increase in temperature, compared to that of nearby

suburban towns, causes many public health concerns. Likewise, extreme winters have also

impacted residents and have increased the need for response efforts from the City of Newark

and its Office of Emergency Management, its Department of Health, and others.

Many types of disasters may require individuals to seek shelter outside their own homes. It is

considered a leading practice in the sheltering community to open shelters as close as possible

to displaced persons homes. During Superstorm Sandy, the City of Newark operated one shelter

at the John F. Kennedy Recreation Center in the central area of the city, which housed mostly

homeless residents. With increased advocacy from the Newark RAP team, the City of Newark

has begun to address the need for cooling and warming stations. Still, with nearly 280,000

residents there is a need many more permanent shelter locations in every ward, especially

during larger emergency, natural, and extreme weather disasters. Funding will need to be

identified to provide the capacity to train and hire neighborhood residents to operate the

shelters during activation, which will have the added effect of increasing jobs locally.

In order to increase climate resiliency among residents, disaster preparedness and emergency

response efforts will need to be drastically improved. The City of Newark needs to properly

inform all residents of how to prepare for disasters; what to do during disaster situations; where

to evacuate if necessary; where to seek shelter and how to arrive there safely; how to return

safely to their homes after a disaster; what contaminants might have entered one’s home; how

to properly clean up homes; and what recovery assistance is available. This information should

be easily assessable across all languages pertinent to Newark residential demographics and

distributed in a timely fashion. On-site emergency response is also essential to this. If the City of

Newark does not have the capacity for this, working with its neighborhood leaders and

stakeholders to have a plan in place is necessary. Training residents or adding training and

capacity to efforts such as the Health & Safety Aide are imperative as not responding at all

cannot happen again. Almost three years after Hurricane Sandy, the consequences of

inadequacy are still being felt by residents recovering from the storm.

In addition, FEMA has released new flood maps that drastically increase the number of homes

that are in flood zones. This means that homeowners with a mortgage or prospective

homeowners looking to purchase a home will be required to purchase flood insurance at

extremely high rates. For low-income communities like Newark, this could lead to mass


August 26, 2015 50

displacement and even abandonment in certain neighborhoods. The Newark RAP team will be

looking at ways to mitigate the impacts of these maps. For one, it is working with the City of

Newark to obtain alternative flood modeling from the Port Authority of New York and New

Jersey that shows that parts of Newark in fact does not flood, which has been ground truthed

by both residents and ICC.. In addition, the Newark RAP team will look to get the City to adopt

FEMA’s Community Rating System that will lessen flood premiums for homeowners, while also

pursuing flood mitigation projects that will alter the flood maps. Lastly, Newark RAP will convene

partners across the state to develop an advocacy strategy to get a flood insurance subsidy for

low-income homeowners to mitigate the impact of the new maps.


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ANNEX C. KNOWN CONTAMINATED SITE LIST FOR SOUTH IRONBOUND Acronyms LSRP - Licensed Site Remediation Professional NFA - No Further Action AOC - Area of Contamination Yellow Highlighted Rows – Sites located in the proposed residential-commercial green district

SITE ID PI NAME PI NUMBER ADDRESS LEAD STATUS STATUS DATE

REMEDIATION LEVEL

52794 TEXACO GAS STATION 20282 OLIVER & PULASKI STS Pending Pending 10/5/93

14003 JOHN L ARMITAGE COMPANY 25588 245 THOMAS ST O & M Assigned to Program 12/1/00 N/A

119124 SKYPORT INDUSTRIAL PARK 156852 39 TOMPKINS POINT RD Post Remed NFA 1/30/97 N/A

50074 THEURER INC BLDG NOS 11 12 14 & 15 31431 225 PARKHURST ST Post Remed

NFA-A (Restricted Use) 7/16/96 N/A

8402 488 MULBERRY ST PARTNERSHIP 22304 488 MULBERRY ST Post Remed

RAO-A (Restricted Use) 3/22/12 N/A

32069 HEBB SPRING COMPANY G000062649 244 SOUTH ST Post Remed <Null>

56167 IGOE BROTHERS INC 30603 234 POINIER ST Post Remed NFA-E (Restricted Use) 3/18/97 N/A

41703 CHEMOS CORP 552 225-235 EMMET ST Post Remed NFA (Limited Restricted Use) 7/27/95 N/A

8667 WILSON IMPERIAL CO 7648 115 CHESTNUT ST Post Remed NFA-E (Restricted Use) 3/27/07 N/A

75303 PROFESSIONAL METAL SERVICES G000043362 200 VANDERPOOL ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 3/23/11 2-10 AOCs

26452 EPOLIN INCORPORATED G000008428 358 TO 364 ADAMS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 4/15/10 0-1 AOCs

63700 STACOR CORPORATION G000002835 275 297 EMMET ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 2/16/11 0-1 AOCs

298221 LAFAYETTE CRANE & HOIST COMPANY INC G000043354 182 VANDERPOOL ST Post Remed

NFA-E (Restricted Use) 8/11/09 N/A

182742 SHANKS CONVERTING EQUIPMENT 2730 39 AVE A Post Remed

NFA-E (Restricted Use) 8/11/09 N/A

438966 EMMET GLOBAL LLC 551877 196 EMMET ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 3/8/11 LSRP Default Category

63698 DYNAMIC CHEMICAL CO INC G000002789 EMMET ST Pub Funded Assigned to Program 9/12/97 N/A

421716 234 PACIFIC STREET LLC 527661 234 PACIFIC ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 3/9/10 0-1 AOCs

14938 COOKSON PIGMENTS INCORPORATED 5048 256 VANDERPOOL ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 7/19/11 > 21 AOCs

42605 JOHN DUFFY FUEL INC 3191 465 MULBERRY ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 12/2/11 2-10 AOCs


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27242 VESEY WAREHOUSE CORP 23921 52 VESEY ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 1/3/12 2-10 AOCs

45216 CHEM-FLEUR INC 12268 200 PULASKI ST Post Remed NFA-E (Restricted Use) 1/17/12 N/A

56650 THEURER INC SOUTH ST FACILITY 31515 303 SOUTH ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 6/7/11 11-20 AOCs

14928 CHASE LABORATORIES INC 31003 280 CHESTNUT ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/1/12 2-10 AOCs

63647 COMET INCORPORATED G000001325 410 ADAMS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

51773 HUDSON TOOL & DIE CO 17628 18 MALVERN ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 0-1 AOCs

17997 MOTOR POOL TRANSPORTATION 32341

497-511 NEW JERSEY RAILROAD AVE LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

29433 EVERGREEN REALTY CORP 19423 222 THOMAS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 0-1 AOCs

63600 THEURER HOLDINGS INCORPORATED G000000311 199-200 CLIFFORD ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 0-1 AOCs

8694 TOSCO STATION 2634877 9055 1226 BROAD ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

26907 PHIL & AL'S SERVICE CENTER 32939 225 SOUTH ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

23761 GOKO 32658 236 SOUTH ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 0-1 AOCs

472464 NEWARK REFRIGERATED WAREHOUSE 18212

RUSSO PROPERTY NRW RUSSO LSRP LSRP Oversight 4/27/12 11-20 AOCs

39484 CANRAD HANOVIA INC 4254 100 CHESTNUT ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

379004 344 356 THOMAS STREET 469996 344 356 THOMAS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 4/23/12 2-10 AOCs

25175 ARJAY ASSOC 26284 46 OLIVER ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 0-1 AOCs

8502 NEW SOUTH STREET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL 285019 146 PENNINGTON ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

42468 NEWARK DISPOSAL SERV INC 2830 FOOT OF PACIFIC ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

14934 TENAX FINISHING PRODUCTS CO 176 390 ADAMS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

57804 ENGINE COMPANY 14 33481 69 VESEY ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

14903 STEEL CRAFT INDUSTRIES 21451 191 MURRAY ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

8721 GENERAL COLOR CO FORMER 10043 24 AVENUE B LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 0-1 AOCs

365835 223 229 THOMAS STREET 452223 223 229 THOMAS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

63650 HUDSAR INCORPORATED G000001398 373 SOUTH ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 N/A

8560 HESS STATION 30514 9106 645 MCCARTER HWY LSRP LSRP Oversight 1/7/13 2-10 AOCs

42795 CAPRA BROS TRUCKING 3823 9 AVE B LSRP LSRP Oversight 11/28/12 2-10 AOCs

65334 358 TO 370 THOMAS STREET G000028706 358 TO 370 THOMAS ST Post Remed NFA-A (Restricted Use) 12/7/04 N/A

21040 THOMAS POPOLA & SON INC 18120 68 TO 92 DELANCEY ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs


August 26, 2015 53

8471 RAVEN CORP 10942 237 SOUTH ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 2-10 AOCs

399191 VA CONSTRUCTION COMPANY INC 499391 403 - 409 ADAMS ST Post Remed

RAO-E (Restricted Use) 8/21/12 N/A

15749 POLAROME MFG CO INC 13072 361 371 SOUTH ST Post Remed RAO-E (Restricted Use) 4/25/13 N/A

20052 JOHNSON FORGING WORKS INC 25963 294-306 THOMAS ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 4/1/13 2-10 AOCs

64470 THEURER INCORPORATED G000014715 174 CLIFFORD ST LSRP LSRP Oversight 5/8/12 LSRP Default Category

64321 NATIONAL MAGNETICS G000010872 250 SOUTH ST Post Remed NFA-E (Restricted Use) 3/18/98 N/A

Source: Known Contaminated Site List for New Jersey (Non-Homeowner), Edition 201404 (Envr_mon_gw_KCSL)

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/digidownload/metadata/statewide/Envr_mon_gw_KCSL.html

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/gis/digidownload/metadata/statewide/Envr_mon_gw_KCSL.html


August 26, 2015 54

ANNEX D. EXAMPLES OF HOW A BID/SID OR 501C3 ORGANIZATION COULD BE USED TO IMPLMENT THE RESILIENCY PLAN Green Infrastructure / Stormwater Management. A 501c3 “stormwater association” can be formed among the industries in a hydrologically connected area of the South Ironbound. Prerequisites include sponsorship by a utilities or improvement authority or similar municipal entity, and conformance with applicable areawide land use and stormwater plans. In addition to assessing fees from its members, such an entity could attract grant and loan money from the New Jersey Environmental Infrastructure Trust (EIT) to further plan and implement an areawide stormwater management plan. An areawide plan would provide more cost-effective, environmentally sustainable and community beneficial district scale green infrastructure measures. This could include greenways, parklets and recreational facilities connecting the parcels with each other and with the surrounding community – as opposed to the individual site scale stormwater retention ponds conventionally used. Redeveloping Vacant and Abandoned Lots and Buildings. A community 501c3 could facilitate more effective financing and implementation of an areawide brownfield redevelopment strategy that is community development driven, i.e. one that balances social equity, economic development, and community health over purely private sector real estate considerations. As stated in the APA PAS report, Sustainable Urban Industrial Redevelopment (2014), “…[A] scattered [site-by-site] approach is insufficient to retain and attract manufacturers in industrial areas impacted by brownfields…[so] communities are expanding brownfield redevelopment strategies…to the reuse of multiple, scattered brownfields in neighborhoods through comprehensive land-use and economic development planning. In urban industrial areas with brownfields, area-wide approaches can help prioritize redevelopment at individual sites as well as address neighborhood conditions that hinder industrial attraction and retention efforts, such as crime, blight, poverty, poor truck access, and obsolete infrastructure.” Environmental justice communities like South Ironbound can benefit the most economically from areawide brownfields cleanup, but need support in planning for brownfields redevelopment. Community Facilities Microgrid. A BID can serve as an entity that can undertake unique funding strategies for supporting a community microgrid. If the ICC and its stakeholders determine that a multiple user (non-utility) microgrid is the best path for ownership, municipal/non-profit ownership can be a pilot for other interested government entities. The benefits of a multi-user model may be shared capital costs and access to private capital, resulting in a more rapid expansion of microgrids. Where load requirements and capability to generate exist in geographic proximity and are complementary to each other, this model could achieve a higher return on investment than that of a single-user microgrid. Federal and state tax credits may accrue to the commercial owner, or be assigned to developers in the case of municipal/non-profit ownership. The ICC may also consider the formation of an Energy District similar to Connecticut’s model.


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Figure 1. Location of South Ironbound in Newark


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Figure 2. Aerial View of South Ironbound


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Figure 3. Notable Places in South Ironbound


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Figure 4. Existing Land Use in South Ironbound


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Figure 5. Vacant Lots and Abandoned Buildings in South Ironbound


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Figure 6. Known Contaminated Sites in South Ironbound


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Figure 7. Storm Surge SLOSH Category 1 in South Ironbound


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Figure 8. FEMA Flood Risk Zones in South Ironbound


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Figure 9. Demonstration South Street Green District in South Ironbound