New coalition vows to fight mayor's plan to redevelop Baltimore's Inner Harbor: 'I was furious'
BALTIMORE -- Mayor Brandon Scott is facing pushback to his plan to redevelop the Inner Harbor.
A new coalition vows to fight the high-rise development ahead of a crucial city council hearings next month.
You can see pictures of the proposed revitalization here. It calls for the current pavilions to be torn down.
WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren spoke to Donna Beth Joy Shapiro, with the Inner Harbor Coalition.
She did not hold back when describing her concerns about Baltimore's plan for the Inner Harbor and how she believes it was forced on the public.
She is against two high-rises and is against a referendum to give the developer more than an acre of public land.
"I was nauseated. I was offended. I was exasperated. I was furious," Shapiro said. "It was just handed to one developer. This whole thing has been developed in secrecy for the last three years."
Shapiro said the Inner Harbor Coalition is a citywide group dedicated to fighting the plan.
"I've been involved in things that have won—small battles where we were the tiny one," she said. "I believe advocacy works, and I believe this time around, everybody and every part of the city needs to participate."
Developer David Tufaro is also fighting the current plans.
"We're standing in what I think most people in Baltimore refer to as our sacred public space," Tufaro said.
He said the mayor's preferred development "was sprung on us, and it created this huge shock effect, which is why the citizen outrage is growing daily."
The mayor and developer P. David Bramble of MCB Real Estate addressed critics in an exclusive interview with WJZ last month.
"Overwhelmingly, the responses that we have received have been amazingly positive. There have been a few loud folks who don't want change. I think change is hard," Bramble said.
Mayor Scott said "we can't turn back the clock."
Bramble argued the height is necessary for the vibrancy of the project and said the area will remain accessible to all.
"Those spaces are public, and they will always belong to the public," Bramble said.
Shapiro believes former Mayor William Donald Schafer, the grandfather of Harborplace, would be on her side.
"I think he is rolling in his grave. This is his legacy and he would never want to see two gigantic towers right here in place of this pavilion," she said. "If people think it's only happening at the Harbor, watch out because if this happens, they're coming for Patterson Park. They're coming for Druid Hill Park. They're coming for every other park in this city."
She said the Inner Harbor Coalition will soon launch a website.
The February council meetings will address rezoning and lifting height restrictions that would clear the way for Bramble's project.
