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Business owner urges city to fix City Dock pumps, reopen Harbor Master facility and adjust parking enforcement
Summary
During public comment at the March 24 special meeting, a downtown business owner described repeated flooding at his store tied to a failed pump system, said the Harbor Master building is closed and criticized downtown parking enforcement that he said harms small businesses.
A downtown business owner addressed the March 24 Annapolis City Council during public comment, urging the city to repair a pump system at City Dock that he said has repeatedly failed and to explain why the Harbor Master building has been closed.
The speaker said he had been promised multiple meetings with city staff about the pump repairs but the parts were missing and no corrective work had been completed. He told the council his store has flooded in recent seasons and that ‘‘95% of the flooding that has taken place in the last year on the city dock was preventable by these pumps.’’ He said he was willing to pay to source the missing part and travel internationally if necessary to obtain it.
The speaker also said the Harbor Master building was closed, leaving dock users without restroom facilities, and criticized signage and the city’s use of an area for delivery-vehicle parking that he said confuses visitors and results in tickets for customers. He described lost business tied to unclear parking and a $50 ticket fine that he said drove away customers.
He concluded with comparisons to European downtown maintenance, urging the city to ‘‘raise the bar’’ for cleanliness and repair in downtown Annapolis.
The council did not take immediate action on the speaker’s requests during the meeting; staff follow-up is expected through the city’s public works and harbor management offices.
