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Residents urge changes to Maritime Welcome Center as council creates maritime economic development fund
Summary
A resident urged the council to reduce or relocate the proposed Maritime Welcome Center to preserve waterfront views; the council also adopted an ordinance establishing a Maritime Industry Economic Development Fund to hold fees set by prior code changes.
A public speaker told the Annapolis City Council that the proposed Maritime Welcome Center in the City Dock resilience project is “in the wrong size, in the wrong place” and urged the council to reduce its footprint or relocate it to preserve views of the Severn River and Chesapeake Bay.
Jack Gallagher, a long‑time downtown resident, told the council he supports the City Dock resilience project in general but described the Maritime Welcome Center as “an eyesore, a blockade that will be regretted for years to come” if left at its current size and location. Gallagher suggested alternative locations such as the foot of Prince George Street or leasing underperforming properties on Dock Street for a smaller facility.
Councilmembers and the mayor earlier in the meeting highlighted multiple waterfront and resilience projects as accomplishments for the year, including City Dock Park flood‑prevention work, approval of a major site design for the Maritime Welcome Center and Harbourmaster headquarters by the Planning Commission, and selection of shoreline restoration vendors.
Separately, the council adopted ordinance O01224 to create a dedicated Maritime Industry Economic Development Fund. Staff explained the fund addresses a technical gap: the maritime district code adopted previously allows collection of fees when maritime properties convert to non‑maritime uses, and the city needed a place in the municipal code to house those receipts so they can be used specifically “to further the interest of maritime in the city.” The ordinance passed on 3rd reading with recorded ayes from the council.
Councilmembers said the fund will hold monies collected under the maritime district rules and that staff will administer disbursements for the purposes enumerated in the code. No changes to the Maritime Welcome Center site approval were made at the meeting; Gallagher and other members of the public urged additional review and design revisions.
The ordinance establishing the maritime fund was adopted on third reading as O01224.
