Baltimore City Council voted to approve bills to redevelop Harborplace at its Monday night meeting, paving the way for its signature by the mayor and approval by city voters.
The council voted 14-1 on each of three bills which cover zoning, land use and amending the City Charter.
“There will be many more hours dedicated to working through every detail because this is simply too important of a project to cut any corners. The road ahead will be long and challenging, but I have no doubts our city’s resolve will meet the moment. The opportunity here is too great to let ego or pessimism deter us from doing everything in our power as a City Council to aid this process and ensure it’s transparent, inclusive, and successful for all our city residents,” City Council President Nick Mosby said in a statement.
“We appreciate the Council’s confidence in MCB and the support of our vision for Harborplace,” said MCB Real Estate developer David Bramble in a statement to WMAR. “But the real work is really just beginning. We look forward to hearing from the citizens of Baltimore through our ongoing community engagement, which we invite everyone to participate in, and at the ballot box in November.”
In the roughly four months since the October announcement, Bramble attended several town hall meetings, facing residents’ questions about traffic, safety and housing, among other topics.
“The City Council didn’t vote on a plan for Harborplace, and I think there’s a public responsibility to be real stewards of what happens at Harborplace,” said Ryan Dorsey, the councilmember for Baltimore’s third council district.
Dorsey was the lone ‘no’ vote on Monday.
“This is going to include the development of the most expensive housing in the city, which is going to cost the taxpayers a lot of money to make up the rent gap on the affordable units that will be required, and I believe that amount of money can be used to subsidize many many more affordable units at a slightly lower cost,” Dorsey explained to WMAR.
The effort will now appear on the November ballot for a citywide vote.
