From an old lumber yard near Fells Point to an industrial pier in Canton, developers hope to transform parts of the city's crusty waterfront into a paradise of open-air bars and restaurants -- complete with tiki huts and palm trees.
The projects carry such exotic names as Parrot Island, Craven's Island and the Piranha Grill. And they would add more than 1,200 restaurant and bar seats to the harbor neighborhoods, according to proposals that the city is considering -- or has approved.
But community leaders, preservationists and some city officials say the exotic decor will clash with the neighborhoods' historic architecture. Community leaders also charge that the new bars VTC and restaurants will draw more rowdy, young drinkers to the waterfront.
"Let's bring in all those college kids from Pennsylvania and D.C. and get them drunk -- that's not economic development," said City Councilman John Cain, D-1st.
Stevens Bunker, a Fells Point businessman who is president of the area's community association, is even more blunt: "The time has come for people looking to get rich on the back of the community to go somewhere else."
The most controversial plans include a trio of bar-restaurants. Caribbean-style Parrot Island, proposed for S. Eden Street on the former O'Malley Lumber Co. site, includes a replica of a two-masted tall ship. Craven's Island, on Aliceanna Street, is an open-air, Malaysian-style eatery on a strip of grass at the water's edge. Another, unnamed proposal sits on a large, abandoned industrial pier on Clinton Street.
But in Fells Point -- where the nearly 50 bars have worn the patience of residents -- plans to lure more drinkers are especially troubling. Mr. Bunker said about 40 members of his association recently voted to oppose plans for Craven's Island, which would seat 170 people.
The proposal, for the area's first outdoor restaurant-bar, will be considered today at a hearing of the Board of Municipal Zoning Appeals.
Developer Charles Craven, who operates the Bay Cafe on Canton's waterfront, says the business would open only during warm weather, on a grassy, 25-by-142-foot strip along the waterfront's brick promenade.
Architect Peter A. Fillat III said the design provides "a nautical feel. At the same time it evokes a Southeast Asian effect. It's not a tiki hut, but it feels like it."
Mr. Craven could not be reached for comment.
The city's planning and housing departments and the Design Advisory Panel have objected to the project, which would feature an outdoor grill and drinking -- across the street from townhouses -- until 2 a.m.
Mr. Bunker criticized the project at 2039 Aliceanna St. as "wrongheaded," saying that on a small site so close to the public promenade "more trash will blow into the harbor."
Other proposals include:
* Parrot Island at 701 S. Eden St., where lumber company owners want to build a 22,000-square-foot, indoor-outdoor restaurant and bar that would seat 404 people. Building designs include thatched huts, as well as the ship's replica.
The city liquor board has approved a liquor license for the business; owners are now seeking zoning board approval for live music.
Noting that the property is in an industrial zone, the developers' spokeswoman, Liz Chuday, said: "The only issue is live entertainment. They can make asbestos, they can recycle hazardous waste, but they can't dance."
The plan for Parrot Island has replaced another -- rejected by the city and the community -- that called for a 50,000-square-foot mega-bar. The new plan, Ms. Chuday said, is for family entertainment and music with a "mature, broad-based appeal," such as "Jimmy Buffet, oldies, country music and Motown."
Community leaders remain leery. Although the property is not in a residential neighborhood, they fear that the live, outdoor music will carry to Fells Point homes a few blocks away.
Although the restaurant and bar will seat 404 people, the capacity could be much larger because "if you look at drawings you see wide open areas for people to stand up," said Thomas Durel, president of the Fells Point Homeowners Association.
Timothy Duke, vice president of the association, said homeowners fear that if the restaurant fails, the owners will turn it "into just another big bar."
* An unnamed proposal on an old pier at 1820 S. Clinton St. in Canton. Developer Mark Denhard wants to build a full-service restaurant-bar and a fast-food bar, with a total of 288 seats, on one of the area's oldest industrial streets.
Mr. Denhard declined to comment on his plans.
Although the plans are preliminary, the city's Design Advisory Panel has already given the proposal its stamp of disapproval.
The panel, which makes recommendations to the Department of Housing and Community Development, said the palm trees to adorn the site "would look dead, or be dead, much of the time. Neither would they relate to Baltimore and its climate."
The panel also said the South Pacific theme would clash with Canton's historic character.
* Sugar Reef Cafe at 1935 Aliceanna St. Fells Point residents Robert and Sharon Baldwin recently bought the bar -- formerly called Mel's -- and have received an expanded liquor license to build an indoor extension behind the bar to accommodate a restaurant with 150 seats.
Although several community groups opposed the expansion, the owners gathered more than 200 signatures from neighborhood residents in favor of the plans, according to liquor board files. Mrs. Baldwin said the expansion may not begin for a few years.
* Piranha Grill at 2501 Boston St. Janice Kelch and Konstantinos Vasilakopoulos plan to build a 170-seat restaurant with a piano bar. A liquor license was granted last month. Community leaders said this week they had not heard of the plans.
* Light House Point at 2701 Boston St. A liquor license has already been approved for 35 bar seats to accompany a swimming pool that would serve people using the marina there. Area residents do not oppose the plans.