Economic development in the Newark Way/Boyden Avenue area — a hot button issue in the June Democratic primary for the Maplewood Township Committee — will be the topic of the Hilton Neighborhood Association’s October meeting.
Mayor Vic De Luca announced that news at the August 4 Township Committee meeting.
De Luca has expressed concern about the burgeoning food, retail and housing district, saying that he wants to ensure that local residents don’t get priced out of one of Maplewood’s more affordable neighborhoods. He also cited parking issues at the August 4 Township Committee meeting, after two Hughes Street residents complained about traffic and enforcement.
But the local residents driving the growth in the Newark Way area say that it is thoughtful and organic — and supported by most neighbors. They also have the support of the majority of the town’s Zoning Board of Adjustment, five members of which have asked elected officials to consider changes to zoning to accommodate the neighborhood’s transformation.
Those changes cannot be made, however, unless and until a majority of the five members of the Township Committee agree on the scope and vote to amend the zoning ordinance.
The Growth
Starting in 2019, Maplewood native and Columbia High School graduate Fred Shandler began investing in the Boyden Avenue/Newark Way area by opening The BreadStand on Boyden Avenue between Menzel and Jacoby. Shandler ultimately folded The BreadStand into Artie’s when he moved that restaurant — formerly known as Arturo’s — from Maplewood Village to 15 Newark Way in 2023.
419 Boyden Avenue — former home of The BreadStand and now home of Corner Slice. Photo by Mary Barr Mann.
Shandler continued to buy properties and recruit businesses to the area, such as Porta Rossa, Perla Seafood & Raw Bar, Corner Slice, Wheelhouse, Shopkeeper and — opening Sept. 4 — The Art Generators Gallery (TAGG) at 14 Newark Way. In 2025, Pallet Brewing Company opened at 30 Newark Way in a property owned by Levent Erhamza, who also owns and operates Guten Parts + Storage next door at 34 Newark Way.
In October 2025, the Zoning Board approved Shandler’s use variance for a development at 17-21 Newark Way that will accommodate two ground-floor retail spaces and three apartments (one affordable housing unit) in the second-floor addition. That property is currently under construction. Shandler says that he also provides workforce housing at below market rate rents in second floor apartments above the Boyden Avenue retail.
Shandler and Erhamza have also been locked in a battle with the township over fines for hosting events on their second floors, with the two property owners calling the enforcement “selective”. Township officials say they are enforcing codes.
17-21 Newark Way, under construction in August 2026. Photo by Mary Barr Mann.
Glow Up and Blowback
During a conversation at a February 2025 Township Committee meeting about updating zoning ordinances based on the new Master Plan, De Luca and then-Mayor Nancy Adams voiced concerns about the neighborhood’s transformation.
De Luca said that in contrast to the businesses that had opened recently on Boyden Avenue near Jacoby, where there is a neighborhood business district, Newark Way had been light industrial. “We want to avoid transitioning that to another business district when quite honestly we have not quite succeeded on Springfield Avenue.”
Adams also expressed skepticism, saying she was “not all the way there” to expanding use in the zone. “I’m not sure I’m ready to take that leap,” she said. “We already have a mechanism in place, albeit costly, to go for a variance to open something like Artie’s, which is what that owner did.”
Artie’s, hosting a SOMA Affordable Art event on April 27, 2025. Photo by Yevgeniya Zbrizher via Facebook.
Township Committee members Deb Engel and Dean Dafis (who led the conversation and the Master Plan implementation) and Deputy Mayor Malia Herman expressed enthusiasm about the area’s development. Engel said that the new businesses had created a micro-community and encouraged pedestrian traffic in the area. “I don’t know why we would not want to encourage that,” she said. (Engel is no longer on the Township Committee; she won the Democratic primary for Essex County Commissioner at Large and is expected to win the general election in November. Jane Collins-Colding now holds that TC seat.)
Read more here: Maplewood Leaders Discuss Expanded Zoning on Newark Way to Continue Area’s ‘Glow-Up’
After Village Green posted an article about the Township Committee’s conversation on the Newark Way “Glow Up” to Facebook, some Newark Way residents chimed in to say that they welcomed the development — and one former tenant said he felt left out.
Charlie Bonilla wrote, “I have lived on Newark Way since 1984. Frankly, I welcome the positive impact made by those in the business community who renovated existing commercial buildings to create something new and exciting in a neighborhood that was long forgotten and ignored. We now are the destination of choice for many individuals and families who want excellent food choices in a quiet, comfortable setting… with more food and beverage options coming soon! This growth is healthy and positive for this neighborhood.”
Levent Erhamza at 34 Newark Way. Photo by Mary Barr Mann.
Erhamza posted, “While many refer to this area now as ‘Glow Up…’ it was far from that in 2018. The old BreadStand building was a bodega that got robbed regularly. The parking lot across the street was a run down gas station. My buildings (30/32/34) were empty or just being used as storage filled with rodents. I picked up garbage, used condoms and syringes regularly. There were no kids walking to school on the sidewalks and no young couples in strollers. Half the lights on the street were out. Artie’s was a run down body shop with back parking lot being used as a 24/7 Amazon semi truck depot. Regularly there were car accidents from people doing triple the speed limit.”
“To further clarify the town hasn’t done much to support this ‘Glow up,'” Erhamza continued. “Like some that have posted they made it very clear they wanted the development in down town or Springfield ave. They did put up the missing no parking signs on one side of the street after we requested and put in a low utilized crosswalk at the cost of thousands of dollar and costing 2 parking spots. Everything else the owners had to go fight and pay for.”
Robert DuSold, who had previously used the space at 17 Newark Way for storage for his staging business, wrote, “Levent, you are a champion. I have seen you clean up the street weekly with the daily garbage strewn all over the block.” DuSold also wrote that he was a longtime resident who had been “forced out.”
“The biggest issue I have with this,” wrote DuSold, “again as a very long time resident and counting several people on the township committee as friends, is the utter lack of communication with us, and also absolutely no investment in infrastructure by the town.”
Read the Facebook comments here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/villagegreensoma/posts/8038949779562970/
Pallet Brewing Company at 30 Newark Way. Photo by Mary Barr Mann.
Zoning Board of Adjustment
At the October 2025 Maplewood Zoning Board of Adjustment meeting, the Board voted to approve Shandler’s petition for a variance for the mixed-use development at 17 Newark Way. The Board members also had a conversation about whether or not the TC should update zoning to allow for such developments and help the developers’ avoid “red tape” in seeking variances.
On October 10, 2025, five members of the ZBA — Dick Lunde, Larry Seltzer, Greg Drechsler, Glenn Merry, and James Fant — sent a letter to the Township Committee, stipulating that they “are members of the Zoning Board of Adjustment, writing as residents of Maplewood.”
The letter noted that the Zoning Board had approved several developments in recent years including Artie’s, a live/work artist studio and residence at 36 Newark Way, and 17-21 Newark Way.
The ZBA members wrote that the 17-21 Newark Way proposal included two “retail units in the existing structure after renovation and three apartments on a new second floor. Neither of these are permitted uses, and the language quoted above [from the zoning code ordinance], in fact, strongly discourages them. Even so, six members of the Board determined that the benefits substantially outweighed any detriments, making approval justified.”
They continued, “Several local residents stayed up late to testify in favor of the application. Nobody testified in opposition. We all sympathize with the existing industrial uses, but the C-I zone, at least on Newark Way, is a relic of another era. It’s clear where the market is driving this neighborhood, populated by young families that would greatly benefit from more housing that is appropriate to the zone and small businesses within walking distance. It is unreasonable for developers to have to navigate the red tape of the use variance process to fill these needs. Accordingly, we recommend that the town initiate a process to develop a suitable supplement to the recent Master Plan. Perhaps there is a way to reassure and protect existing commercial/industrial uses without inhibiting new uses.”
Scroll down to read the full letter from the five Zoning Board of Adjustment members.
The Art Generators Gallery, opening at 14 Newark Way on September 4, 2026. Photo courtesy of TAGG.
Democratic Primary
Newark Way development became a focus during the June Democratic primary for two seats on the Township Committee when Artie’s made major donations to two candidates who voiced support for continued development on Newark Way — John Sullivan and Martin Ceperley.
During the Hilton Neighborhood Association candidates’ forum, De Luca said he was concerned that development on Newark Way could impact the cost of housing on Newark Way, which he said was “the most affordable housing in Maplewood.”
“Those duplexes, they sell for about $400,000 so taxes are reasonable,” said De Luca. “They’re two bedroom, two bath, and families can start there. So I want to make sure that whatever we do on Newark Way or in the Hilton neighborhood, that we preserve what’s there.”
[Sullivan and Cerperley also expressed concerns about affordability and support for affordable housing.]
After De Luca prevailed as the top vote getter in the primary, with Sullivan taking the second spot — ensuring their election in November with no Republican challengers — De Luca posted a selfie to Facebook, writing: “After a very good election win on Tuesday night, the next morning I went to pick up chocolate croissants from Artie’s.”
Parking
At the August 4 Township Committee meeting, two residents of Hughes Street — which runs parallel to Newark Way —spoke during public comments to lodge complaints about being parked into their driveways.
John Singleton, a 38-year resident who is also a township employee (supervisor, code enforcement), told the TC members, “We’re here today because of excessive parking on our street. It starts from Thursday through Sunday. Workers and customers are parked on each side of the street causing a safety issue. And it takes me sometimes five minutes to back out of my driveway. … And this is constant, making my blood pressure go up. It’s crazy.” He added, “We can’t take it anymore. It’s unbelievable.”
De Luca said that he and Township Engineer Paul Kittner had performed a field evaluation to see if they could implement a five-foot rule for parking near a driveway, but that that was unworkable as it would eliminate parking on Hughes Street. He said that alternate side of the street parking could be a potential solution, and that he would instruct new Police Chief Niheema Malloy to proactively enforce violations at the next Public Safety Committee meeting.
“The Hilton Neighborhood Association’s meeting in October is going to be dedicated to the whole issue of development in that area to try to figure out what we’re going to do there,” De Luca told the residents. “Because clearly, not only is it the day-to-day situation, but when there’s an event, it really becomes a problem. So we’re looking at all those and trying to work with some of the businesses to resolve that.”
