Politics & Government

25th Street Station Development Foes Make Case

Two men, who have filed a lawsuit aimed at stopping a planned unit development for North Baltimore, filed a brief with the Court of Special Appeals explaining their legal right to do so.

Two North Baltimore residents filed a brief on Monday with the Maryland Court of Special Appeals that explains their right to challenge the planned unit development granted to the proposed 25th Street Station project.

A lawsuit filed by Allen Hicks and Douglas Armstrong was previously dismissed in Baltimore City Circuit Court because a judge ruled the two lacked standing, the legal right to pursue a lawsuit. But the Court of Special Appeals is scheduled to examine that decision in January.

In their brief, Hicks and Armstrong criticized the traffic impact study that supported the project and argued that city taxpayers like them will have to pay the cost of improving roads to mitigate the anticiated increase in traffic, according to a news release.

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Hicks, a Hampden resident, and Armstrong, a Remington resident, both unsuccessfully ran for Baltimore City Council seats this year.

The Court of Special Appeals is also scheduled to take up a second, similar lawsuit regarding 25th Street Station. Benn Ray, owner of , is a plaintiff in that lawsuit.

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Supporters of the development have been critical of the two lawsuits and blame them in part for some of the recent problems regarding a project that proposes to build 330,000-square-foot of retail development to include Walmart.

"While we continue to work on construction plans, financing, and tenant mix, we cannot purchase the property or start construction while the appeals continue," states the project's website. "We look forward to a decisive resolution of the appeals so we can bring shopping, investment, and jobs to the neighborhood and City as soon as possible."

Last month, big box retailer Lowe’s announced that it was no longer interested in opening a store as part of the development.

“You have to wonder if things could have been different if frivolous lawsuits hadn’t been filed against the project,” Ryan O’Doherty, a spokesman for Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, told Patch in October.

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