The floating promenade that rings the Moorings, a collection of million-dollar Canton townhomes, was intended to be a peaceful spot to stroll, jog or gaze over the water.
But for city officials and townhome residents, it's been the source of several years of headaches — and could soon be the subject of a lawsuit.
With the promenade in disrepair, the city wants the developer and homeowners to build a brick walkway at the water's edge that would join the seven-mile promenade that wraps around the Inner Harbor from Federal Hill to Canton.
But developer Selvin Passen would prefer the less-expensive option of installing a new promenade out on the water, not one that would bring walkers and joggers closer to the tidy patios and gardens of the townhomes.
Residents say they were barely aware of the flap until a letter arrived from a few weeks ago saying that the city planned to sue Passen, the homeowners' association and any property owners who had built into a 20-foot swath of land covered by an easement. City planning officials are slated to meet with residents tonight.
"The residents have been completely left in the dark," said Buddy Koolhof, who moved into the Moorings when construction was completed in 2005. "The city owes city taxpayers an explanation as to why they would not act to save some money here and build a new floating promenade."
But the explanation is simple, officials say. The developer had promised a permanent walkway, built on land, since the project's inception, they say. And building a wide, safe and attractive brick path around the harbor is key to their vision of the city.
"Baltimore's waterfront makes it really unique," said deputy planning director Gary Cole. "And having public access to the waterfront is just phenomenal. You can walk from Federal Hill to Canton. It's a world-class water experience."
A wide brick walkway, dotted with benches and lights, skirts about seven miles of the water's edge with a few gaps that have yet to be completed, according to a planning department map. As developers have completed projects from the Ritz-Carlton Residences to Harborview, the city has directed them to lay out brick walkways, says Cole.
That walkway stops abruptly at the Moorings, which is just off Boston Street near the Bo Brooks seafood restaurant, and pedestrians are funneled onto a metal ramp leading down to a wide concrete walkway littered with a few crumpled cigarette packs and fish heads. On a recent afternoon, a steady stream of joggers and power walkers hurried past and a young couple fished from the side.
Although the city has access to a 20-foot swath stretching back from the water's edge, many homeowners have built patios or support pillars for decks into that easement, rendering the construction of a brick walkway nearly impossible.
Passen, one of the original developers of the Moorings, has offered to build a new floating promenade with money from his own pocket, said his attorney, David Rudow. The developer apparently has a spare promenade from another complex he owns in Florida.
Building a promenade on land is too expensive and impractical, Rudow said.
"That may be what the city would like, but there's no piece of paper the city can point to and say, 'That's the way it has to be,' " said Rudow.
But City Solicitor George Nilson says he has plenty of paper — a stack of documents 10 inches high — to support the city's position.
"We have been trying to work this out for at least three and a half years," said Nilson. "We've had lots of meetings, lots of conversations. … [A lawsuit] is not my favorite way to handle it, but it needs to be resolved."
The suit is expected to be filed within the coming weeks, Nilson said, unless "a new solution emerges mysteriously and miraculously" from tonight's community meeting.
City officials say Canton's urban renewal plan, the planned unit development for the Moorings and a subdivision plan all call for a walkway on land. And in 2008, they say, Passen signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to remove the floating promenade and build a walkway extending over the water.
The floating promenade was built as a temporary path when a working boatyard occupied the land where the townhomes now stand, Cole said.
Officials say a 2002 easement agreement signed by the city and a team of developers provided for two walkways — one on land to be open to the public only during daylight hours, and a floating walkway that would be accessible around the clock.
But Rudow says the agreement required the developers only to build the floating promenade, while maintaining a 20-foot easement on land in case the promenade became unusable.
Darryl Jurkiewicz, president of the Canton Community Association, said that his predecessor signed off on the development in 2004 only after assurances that a promenade would be built in the early stages of the project.
"We've been wondering why the city didn't get them to do this before," said Jurkiewicz. He said residents wonder about the safety of the promenade, which is showing signs of age.
But passers-by using the walkway on a recent afternoon said they were fine with the current structure.
"Floating is better," said Maria Grotz of Fells Point as she jogged in place holding small hand weights. "This is much more unique and more in tune with the scenery. Who are these people complaining about it — are they from the Midwest? I'm from Cape Cod so I'm used to this."
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