Annapolis Mayor Pushes For City Dock Park Before Court Hearing: Reports

ANNAPOLIS, MD — In the face of a lawsuit trying to block City Dock Park construction, the Annapolis mayor is sponsoring a resolution to double down on the build.

Mayor Gavin Buckley (D) on Wednesday filed Resolution 3-25, which would reaffirm the City Council's commitment to building the raised park intended to combat sea level rise. Buckley will introduce the legislation at Monday's City Council meeting, which is scheduled for 7 p.m. at City Hall and is open to the public.

A lawsuit filed in November 2024 by an anonymous group aspires to block construction on the park, expected to mitigate downtown flooding along Ego Alley. The suit alleges that the city violated its parliamentary procedures in approving the park and the associated demolition of the harbormaster's office, WJZ reported.

Historic Annapolis, a preservation nonprofit, said the lawsuit has a judicial hearing in Circuit Court on Wednesday. The hearing will discuss a request to stay, or halt, City Dock construction "until the merits of a legal challenge are reviewed," Historic Annapolis said.

"We support the stay because we do not want to see the current harbormaster building demolished while there is pending legal challenge. This would set a dangerous precedent for preservation in the local historic district," Historic Annapolis said in a Friday newsletter.

Patch contacted Buckley for a comment, but his office did not provide a statement for publication.

The park would replace the current City Dock parking lot with a raised earthen berm. Walkways and passive recreation areas would wind through the public space, which would also have floodgates and floodwater pumping stations to shield nearby businesses.

The effort is slated to protect 70% of the downtown shoreline from 8 feet of flooding. The city hopes to cover the remaining coast in future projects that are still years away.

Designers said this would defend the historic district from sea level rise and worsening storm surges until 2060. The city would then need to reassess its protective measures. The United Nations projects Annapolis sea levels to rise at least a foot by the 2050s and at least 2 feet by 2100.

The park was previously scheduled to open in 2025. The finishing floodproofing touches were set to continue until 2026.

That timeline is now in jeopardy as the lawsuit and funding remain concerns.

The City Council already approved $71,373,363 for the project in its fiscal year 2025 budget.

The city also expects a $34 million grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, Eye on Annapolis said. FEMA has not yet distributed those funds, however, so the city remains short of its funding goal.

Eye on Annapolis said 2024 saw 97 flood events in Annapolis, setting a city record.

January 2024 brought 5.1 feet of flooding, the city's third-worst flood on record. That inundation closed several waterfront businesses for weeks. The remnants of Tropical Storm Debby brought over 4 feet of storm surge last August, costing 19 businesses and nonprofits $162,000 in the city's eighth-worst flood on record.

"Our downtown businesses can’t afford to wait," Buckley said in a November 2024 press release announcing the lawsuit. "To be clear, I am confident our team has gone above and beyond to be transparent, to provide opportunities for public participation, and to follow the City Code in development and approvals of the City Dock resiliency project. Due to the anonymous nature of this filing, it is impossible to understand the motivation behind the lawsuit thereby blunting our ability to adequately defend against it. What the lawsuit will bring is costly delays, degradation of historic structures, and, inevitably, more downtown flooding."

The project also calls for the looming demolition of the harbormaster's office. The office would be replaced with a larger Maritime Welcome Center.

Historic Annapolis said the Planning Commission approved the Maritime Welcome Center and park at the end of Prince George Street in December 2024.

"We expect the Maritime Welcome Center (MWC) application will come before the Historic Preservation Commission on January 23 for an administrative review. After the expected administrative review, the City will return to HPC for a formal review and vote on the MWC proposal," Historic Annapolis said. "HA’s concern: Our principal critique of the City Dock plan is the MWC; we believe that it is two times too big. Action: This will be a virtual hearing only, and we will provide further information and recommendations once the agenda is posted."

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