But the relationship between HarborView and the community has soured over the years. Several neighborhood and elected leaders - including Del. Brian K. McHale and Sen. George W. Della Jr. - oppose the zoning amendment.
Paul W. Robinson, president of Federal Hill Neighborhood Association, said the city is giving the developer too much leeway by approving the zoning change. The city shouldn't move forward, he said, until it has finalized the plan for a park.
"The concern ... is that there is no actionable language which will legally bind the city, the landowner and the developers to [build] the vision that we've all so enthusiastically embraced," he said.
Trust between the community, the city and the developer was particularly damaged in 2006 when HarborView exceeded 58-foot height limits set by the city for the project's townhouses. The city initially issued a stop-work order and then a cease-and-desist order, but the excess height was allowed to stand on homes that had already been built.
In addition to the debate over the current zoning proposal, Dixon said the city continues to push for open space near HarborView. Design concepts include 30-foot promenades and a large, stylish park, potentially at the end of Webster Street.
Though much of the land along Key Highway is privately held, the city owns a Fire Department repair facility south of HarborView that Swirnow wants to develop. Dixon has said the city would sell that property only if open space is guaranteed. If that doesn't happen, she has said, then the facility itself could become a park.
Douglas McCoach, director of the Planning Department, said the next step is to amend zoning just south of the current HarborView development to give some legal muscle to the park concept. He said he expects the department to "dive into" that process in September.
The zoning amendment was approved by the city's Planning Commission on May 29 and is scheduled for a hearing by the City Council's Urban Affairs and Aging Committee tomorrow.
Voting on the measure this week could be complicated by City Councilwoman Rochelle "Rikki" Spector - who sits on both the Planning Commission and the five-member Urban Affairs committee - because she lives part time at HarborView with her boyfriend.
After the Planning Commission's voice vote, Spector called the Planning Department to make sure the record reflected her vote as an abstention. Asked whether she would abstain from future votes on the issue, Spector noted she did not own any property at HarborView and said she would seek an opinion from the city's ethics board as to whether she can vote.
Noting confidentially requirements contained in the city's ethics ordinance, Avery Aisenstark, who serves as staff to the ethics board, said he could not confirm or deny that such a request had been made.
john.fritze@baltsun.com
