An effort to put a question on ballots this fall asking voters to preserve park land along the city’s Inner Harbor — and scuttling a proposed development there — fell short of the required signatures as of the deadline Monday.
The petition drive, spearheaded by former Democratic mayoral candidate Thiru Vignarajah, was aimed at disrupting the proposed redevelopment of Harborplace. The proposed question would have asked voters to amend the city charter to create a system of dedicated parks exempt from private, commercial development.
Among the 20 parks the ballot question would have protected was Inner Harbor Park, the waterfront park where Harborplace sits. Residential development, private office space and buildings over 100 feet would have been banned in the park were the ballot question to have passed. That would conflict with several facets of an ambitious proposal from Baltimore developer MCB Real Estate to overhaul Harborplace.
Vignarajah, backed by the Inner Harbor Coalition, began collecting signatures in support of the effort in mid-June, much later than other petitioners who were successful in collecting the necessary signatures. As of 4:30 p.m. Monday, the group fell short of the 10,000 required, according to deputy elections director Abigail Goldman, despite a last-minute attempt to gather more. Some would have likely been disqualified by the Baltimore City Board of Elections had they been reviewed, the next step in the process.
Vignarajah did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
Monday marked the final day for petitioners across the city aiming to place questions on the ballot to submit the required signatures. Most of the other campaigns submitted their petitions early this year in hopes of beginning the review process ahead of schedule. One question asking voters to cut the size of the Baltimore City Council in half has already been approved for the ballot.
Two additional questions are currently mired in court fights. One, known as the Baby Bonus, would ask voters to establish a fund to pay parents of newborns $1,000. That question has been approved by the Baltimore City Board of Elections to appear on the ballot, but is being challenged by Baltimore City. A second question, proposed by Renew Baltimore, would cut and cap the city’s property tax rate. The city election board found the question conflicted with state law. The group has filed a court action to overturn the decision.
Two other proposed ballot questions failed to gather enough signatures by the Monday deadline. Those included an effort from the Baltimore Transit Equity Coalition to create a fund to advocate for a regional transit authority and a drive to create a community wealth building fund, circulated by local SEIU United Healthcare Workers.
The anti-Harboplace initiative was among the most closely watched in the final days of the petition circulation period. While Vignarajah began the drive late, he has proven a talent in the past for organizing. Earlier this year he raised hundreds of small dollar donations to qualify for matching funds from the Baltimore City Fair Election Fund.
People walk through the Inner Harbor Park Monday afternoon. An effort to put a question on ballots this fall asking voters to preserve park land along the city’s Inner Harbor fell short of the required signatures as of the deadline Monday. (Jerry Jackson/Staff)
The development Vignarajah’s ballot question aimed to prohibit in city parks would have directly conflicted with MCB Real Estate’s plan for Harborplace. MCB, led by Baltimore-native P. David Bramble, wants to demolish two beleaguered shopping and dining pavilions in favor of four taller, mixed-use buildings, including a conjoined tower stretching 32 stories. MCB’s plan calls for 900 apartments and office space on the site along with a large new park space, a two-tier promenade and realigned roadways.
A separate proposed charter amendment needed to clear the way for the development is still slated to appear on ballots this fall. The Baltimore City Council ushered that proposal through in March despite protests from some city residents who argued the plan would essentially privatize the public Inner Harbor shoreline, much of which was preserved as parkland by charter amendments in the late 1970s. Residents have objected to the proposed density, the removal of height limits, the inclusion of apartments and the road-narrowing plan.
Vignarajah has been a vocal opponent of the plan. The Democrat pledged on the campaign trail to halt the development if elected, calling it a “backroom deal” between Bramble and Mayor Brandon Scott and an “exclusive resort for the wealthiest of the wealthy.”
A poll conducted for The Baltimore Sun, University of Baltimore and FOX45 in April showed the majority of city voters favored the MCB redevelopment plan. Of those surveyed, 59% said they supported the proposal. An additional 20% said they opposed the plan while 21% said they were unsure.