The Maryland State Board of Elections voted Tuesday to appeal a court decision to nullify a Baltimore ballot question asking voters to rezone part of the Inner Harbor to make way for an ambitious Harborplace redevelopment proposal.
With the election less than two months away, it’s expected the state Supreme Court will decide whether to take up the case and rule expeditiously.
On Monday, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Cathleen Vitale ruled the city’s proposed charter amendment was improper because it didn’t go to the “form and structure” of government and instead dealt with zoning. City and county charters are like the U.S. Constitution in that they enshrine certain rights and set up how government is run.
The original preservation of public space around the Inner Harbor was done in 1978, also by charter amendment. The area is known in the city’s charter as “Inner Harbor Park,” which it describes as “from the World Trade Center around the shoreline of the Inner Harbor and including Rash Field.” Because it is protected as public parkland, it would need to be rezoned to allow for residential development and off-street parking.
Vitale questioned whether the original protection enshrined in the charter was the correct legal mechanism — she believes it was not — and, because two wrongs do not make a right, she said she had no choice but to nullify the redevelopment question.
A group of Baltimoreans had opposed the ballot initiative and filed a petition on Sep. 5 asking the court to weigh in on whether it could proceed. Thiru Vignarajah, a former deputy attorney general and candidate in Baltimore elections, represented the Harborplace opponents. Vignarajah’s group, led by former Baltimore City Councilman Anthony ”Tony” Ambridge, brought their action in Anne Arundel County because that’s where the State Board of Elections is headquartered.
Baltimore politicians reacted strongly to the court’s decision, questioning why an Anne Arundel County judge, also a former Republican state delegate, could reach a decision with such a large impact for a jurisdiction they do not oversee.
Baltimore City Councilman Eric Costello, who introduced the charter amendment legislation to the council, called Vitale’s ruling an “outrage and an affront.” Costello, at Monday’s City Council meeting, said the judge “undercut” Baltimore’s sovereignty. The decision, he added, amounts to “voter suppression at its worst.”
Under Vitale’s ruling, the zoning question would have still appeared on Baltimore ballots under the heading “Question F,” but the results of people’s votes would not have been certified, meaning they wouldn’t count.
Mayor Brandon Scott echoed Costello at a public appearance Tuesday at the Hollins Market, where he said Vitale’s ruling was “disrespectful” and overstepped her authority.
Scott also questioned the motivations behind the petitioners who brought the challenge to the Harborplace amendment.
“A certain section of the city got mad,” Scott said, seemingly a reference to the majority of petitioners residing in predominantly white neighborhoods near the Inner Harbor.
Vignarajah did not immediately return a request for comment Tuesday. In court Monday, he seemed to expect the Maryland Supreme Court would play a role, often telling Vitale that they would rule on the case.
In March, the City Council passed legislation that would ask voters to determine whether to allow MCB Real Estate, a private company, to raze the existing Harborplace pavilions, reconfigure the nearby intersection and construct five new buildings — a mix of retail, office and residential space — along a completely reimagined waterfront promenade. The tallest would be two towers stretching 25 and 32 stories tall and containing up to 900 residential units. The plan also called for construction of off-street parking.
P. David Bramble, a Baltimore native, heads MCB Real Estate and had city and state backing for his grand plans. The total cost of Bramble’s proposal is estimated to be around $900 million, with $400 million coming from taxpayers in a hypothetical mix of state and federal funds that have yet to be fully secured. A spokesperson for MCB declined to comment Tuesday.
Bramble has donated to both Costello and Scott’s campaigns.
As part of her ruling, Vitale also said the way the question was written was too confusing for voters and that, even if the proposal had been proper charter material, she would have ruled to strike or amend it on those grounds.
This article may updated.
