City Dock Plan Approved 3 Years After Work Began

Three years after the first meeting of a committee to chart a new plan for City Dock, the City Council formally adopted a plan.

The City Dock Master plan was approved by an 8-1 vote in the early morning hours of Tuesday, after the Council’s 7 p.m. Monday session spilled over into the next day. The plan lays out guidelines for how City Dock should develop.

The 43-page amended City Dock plan is available for review at the city's website. 

The Council amended an existing plan presented by the City Dock Commission in 2012, adding a number of changes. Among them, increasing the setback requirements for waterfront buildings from 30 to 55 feet, allowing for commercial development at the former Fawcett's Boating Supply store, and allowing for a wider boardwalk along City Dock.

A parking study would be required if a "significant number" of spaces were removed due to any changes in the area.

Alderman Fred Paone cast the lone dissenting vote on the plan, expressing concerns that the plan could accomplish its goals. Paone said it would only spawn more studies, The Baltimore Sun reported.

The passage of the plan did not come without distress from some residents, who testified Monday that the plan was not yet ready. 

It was a repeat message from earlier this summer, when the plan became mired in controversy after the Save Annapolis Coalition, a group of residents and downtown business leaders, rallied against a developer's plan to redevelop the former Fawcett Boating Supply store downtown into a retail shop. The developer pulled his plans, citing opposition from downtown residents like the coalition.

The new plan however creates an opportunity for the developer to return to the site.