The second suit filed by Englewood One Community and residents for the City Plan to allow up to 4,000 new apartment units.

ENGLEWOOD -- Former Mayor Frank Huttle III said the request was made by the nonprofit organization and residents “to simply provide open and transparent government and explain why these zones were selected to literally put apartment buildings in the middle of local quiet streets,” he said. “We want to know who drew the lines, how was the plan developed and what was the rationale they used to pick these zones in areas that are flood zones”, as reported in the Record.

Englewood faces suit from group over access to records

Documents are linked to plan for new apartments

Megan Burrow NorthJersey.com USA TODAY NETWORK - NEW JERSEY

 ENGLEWOOD — A community group is suing the city over access to public records it says city officials have taken too long to produce.

The nonprofit Englewood One Community Corporation alleges the city and its records custodian, City Clerk Yancy Wazirmas, violated the state Open Public Records Act, or OPRA, by not providing documents related to a plan that could add thousands of new apartments to residential neighborhoods.

The group has another lawsuit pending against the city, council and mayor that seeks to overturn the zoning change that would incentivize the construction of multifamily housing.

The City Council in August approved the plan to provide affordable housing through overlay zones that could add as many as 4,000 apartments across the city's four wards, with 20% of the units set aside for low-and moderate-income housing.

The plan was developed through negotiations with the Fair Share Housing Center to meet the city's affordable housing obligations.

Englewood One had requested emails from various city officials regarding what the group calls in the suit "a misguided and vastly overbroad overlay zoning ordinance."

The group has argued that the plan would allow four- to five-story buildings next to single-family houses and could push people out of their homes and destroy the character of city neighborhoods.

After several extensions of the seven-business-day deadline to provide the documents, the city clerk produced "a very small amount" of the requested records and asked for a final seven-day extension because she had "received about 2,000 emails" to review, the law-suit says.

But on Sept. 28, more than two months after the initial request, the clerk told the group her office "would be preoccupied with the upcoming November election" and would need until after Nov. 20 to provide the rest of the documents.

Englewood One claims that because "the requested emails relate to an extremely controversial, and potentially very embarrassing, subject matter for certain public officials," it is concerned the city will keep delaying the response in hopes "the matter will just fizzle out."

Former Mayor Frank Huttle III, one of the leaders of the group, said the members are seeking the documents to understand how the plan was developed and why certain areas, including some that already have apartment buildings with affordable housing, were chosen to be rezoned.

"The request was made to simply provide open and transparent government and explain why these zones were selected to literally put apartment buildings in the middle of local quiet streets," he said. "We want to know who drew the lines, how was the plan developed and what was the rationale they used to pick these zones in areas that are flood zones."

Bob Hoffman, the city manager, said the group's OPRA request was "overly broad and somewhat ambiguous" and required city officials to download more than 31,000 emails, many containing information relating to litigation that had to be reviewed by attorneys.

The city plans to comply with the request, but the election is a constitutional duty that requires expensive preparation and takes precedence, Hoffman said.

"It is physically impossible to review over 31,300 emails as well as prepare for and run the general election," he said. "That is why the city asked for the extension."