Annapolis and Anne Arundel County officials are rapidly moving ahead with plans to designate part of the city as an arts and entertainment district, despite criticism that the process is proceeding without the proper review.

County Councilman Josh Cohen is working to push through the council tomorrow legislation that would give the city permission to apply to the Maryland State Arts Council to designate a 55-acre swath of Annapolis as the "Capital City Cultural Arts Center."

The Arts Council administers the program, which offers tax abatements to businesses and artists promoting the arts in 15 districts across the state. The Arts Council requires approval from the city and county councils, and its application deadline for this year is April 1.

Cohen, a Democrat whose district includes Annapolis, appealed to the city council last week to delay the application at the urging of constituents who said the undertaking warranted more study of its implications on local neighborhoods. But after the city council approved the measure creating the district Monday, Cohen conceded that he would not block the application.

"I believe there needs to be collaboration between the county and the city," Cohen said. "It's time to move forward and make the best of it. To that end, I'm contacting all my colleagues on the County Council to find out what concerns they have so that we can get it passed Monday night."

Mayor Ellen O. Moyer and city economic development director Michael F. Miron, who introduced their proposal for an arts district in January, have shifted its boundaries twice in hopes of placating residents who worried the district would draw a plethora of noisy nightlife establishments to residential neighborhoods.

City officials say they are determined to submit the application to the Arts Council this month for fear that they would not be able to reapply until 2010. Officials in Brooklyn Park plan to apply next year, and only one jurisdiction from each county can apply.

Miron said the city had 12 meetings with residents groups to explain the plans and bristled at criticism that city officials had not adequately informed residents and were pushing through the process too quickly.

"Normally, when you do something like that, you stretch out the meetings over six to eight months," Miron said. "We had the same number of meetings you'd have in six months in three months. You have the Homewood community on one hand saying, 'We don't want it' and the Clay Street community saying, "'God, give it to us.'"

A resolution to postpone voting on the measure failed, and a subsequent vote on the resolution was passed the council, 5-4. Alderman Frederick Paone, who represents most of the area to be included in the district - including the downtrodden Clay Street area - ultimately voted for the measure but said there should be more time to examine the district's impact.

Initially, the proposed district included 100 acres and stretched along West Street from Monticello Avenue to Chinquapin Round Road.

Now, in its third incarnation, the boundaries of the district stretch from along West Street near the library to Clay Street, with Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts as its anchor. The city recently removed a large tract that included a Gold's Gym and car dealerships, which had been included in the proposal to appease residents who feared that their zoning would allow for large entertainment venues.

Robert Waldman, a member of the Germantown-Homewood Civic Association, said he was pleased with the changes in the district's outline, which he had suggested to city officials, but that he is still unconvinced of the project's viability.

"I appreciate the city realizing the wisdom of removing those big parcels of properties," Waldman said. "But they must follow that up with a sector study to look into the future, to see what's the best use of those properties. ... We're not concerned about artists living in the neighborhood, working in the neighborhood, people selling art in the neighborhood. Our concern is the big parcels turning into poorly planned large developments.

"The city must make good on their promise to do a sector study, promptly and thoroughly. And with vision."

Miron said he is optimistic that the state will approve the proposal. He said it will take three to five years to fully develop the district and that it will require a management team and a board of directors, which would consist of volunteers.

They would be responsible for applying for grant money for street improvements, signs, advertising and marketing, and for creating an approval process for artists and merchants seeking to benefit from the district.

nicole.fuller@baltsun.com