This month, tens of thousands of Baltimore citizens and visitors helped celebrate the 30th anniversary of Harborplace. Our world-famous waterfront has become a source of pride for residents and a recreational asset that connects people with our industrial heritage, our rich array of city neighborhoods, and of course with the water itself. Baltimore benefits from the harbor's ability to draw regional, national and international tourists, supporting one of the largest sectors of the city's economy.
The story of the Inner Harbor as we know it began in the 1960s when the city adopted the visionary Inner Harbor Master Plan for the massive redevelopment of this formerly industrial "basin," as it was then called. A key component was the creation of a brick promenade that would create a linear park all along the water's edge, to simultaneously open up and preserve public access in perpetuity. At the time, this promenade plan was a truly visionary proposal. In so many cities, highways were constructed at the water's edge, creating barriers rather than promoting public access. Our promenade, however, served as the site of the Baltimore City Fairs, Inner Harbor celebrations and a multitude of other civic events over the years.
The promenade also made possible the redevelopment of the areas between downtown and some of our most historic neighborhoods, creating increased demand for residential and commercial properties from Canton Waterfront Park to the Museum of Industry and beyond. To date, approximately 6 miles of the 7.5 mile promenade have been completed, as a result of unique public-private partnerships, easements, urban renewal plans, and planned unit developments. The city has established a uniform standard of brick paving, lighting, benches and landscaping that all developers of waterfront parcels are required to meet. The promenade has been widely recognized as a major factor in the ongoing transformation and revitalization of Baltimore's waterfront.
It is unfortunate, therefore, that the city has no other option left than to pursue legal action to ensure that our time-tested promenade construction standards are upheld at the Moorings promenade at Lighthouse Point. For more than four years, the departments of Planning and Law have been working with the original developers, and subsequently the homeowners association, to complete their portion of the promenade to the systemwide standard. The permanent promenade improvements along the water's edge are requirements of the Canton Waterfront Urban Renewal Plan, the approved Lighthouse Point PUD, and the Lighthouse Point Final Subdivision and Development Plan, all of which call for a shoreline promenade. Unfortunately, although a multitude of designs have been put forward and approved, none have yet to be built.
What does exist at the site is a "floating promenade" that juts out over the water from the traditional brick promenade, then parallels the shoreline for a few hundred feet, and finally reconnects with our standard brick promenade at the other end of the development. The city allowed this temporary floating promenade to be constructed at this location to maintain uninhibited pedestrian links to our promenade system while development plans were being finalized and site construction was under way. It is a clear intent of the approved development plans that a permanent land-side promenade, built to the same standards as the rest of our promenade system, be constructed at the Moorings site.
Some may argue that the existing temporary floating promenade, which was put in place in 1997, brings one closer to the water and is unique. It is not, however, an adequate substitute for the landscaped brick promenade that is intended to connect residents and visitors to our waterfront.
The city has been more than patient with the developers on this issue. We remain willing to consider options that would have minimal or no impact on the front yards of waterfront homeowners at the Moorings, several of whom have constructed porches and patios in the public easement area of the anticipated permanent promenade. It is now time to complete the promenade to the same standards as every other developer on Baltimore's world-class waterfront.
Thomas J. Stosur is director of the Baltimore City Planning Department. His e-mail is tom.stosur@baltimorecity.gov.