Mayor Ras J. Baraka will sign into law three groundbreaking housing ordinances that will make Newark a national leader in affordable housing, at a City Hall Press Room ceremony tomorrow, Wednesday, October 11, at 1 p.m. City Hall is located at 920 Broad Street. The ordinances were passed by the Newark Municipal Council on October 3.

The three housing measures that Mayor Baraka is signing together catapult Newark to national leadership in meeting the affordable housing crisis. The first is an Inclusionary Zoning ordinance that requires developers to set aside 20 percent or more of their apartments as affordable. It is part of Newark’s attempt to prevent the kind of gentrification that has driven longtime residents out of Hoboken and Brooklyn.

The ordinance goes beyond similar measures in New York City and other cities by applying to every part of the city, not designated neighborhoods. Unlike other cities, the affordable units must be spread throughout a building and not clustered together. Also, unlike other cities, the affordable units must be provided on site and not in other locations.

The second measure being signed is the innovation of limiting long term tax abatement to buildings containing affordable housing as well as those in which the developer partners with a Newark minority or female contractor and provides jobs to Newark residents.

The third measure creates new zoning, in which a developer is required to meet high environmental standards.