Planning commission to consider project

Downtown Annapolis redevelopment proposed by mayor’s business partner

A downtown redevelopment project owned by Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley’s business partner heads to the city’s Planning Commission Thursday night.

Jody Danek, the mayor’s business partner in several downtown Annapolis restaurants and other ventures, wants to build on the land surrounding the Lemongrass restaurant, now housed in a century-old building on West Street. The project would feature a 65-seat restaurant on the first floor and six apartments on the two floors above it. Two would be two-bedroom units and four would be one-bedroom, according to the plans.

Mitchelle Stephenson, a spokesperson for the city, said that Buckley has no ties to the project at 161 West St. Danek formed a limited liability company, West Village LCC, for the project.

The “major site design plan review” for the property is moving forward with planning despite a police staffing issue that has stalled several other construction projects that require the same review. In November, Police Chief Edward Jackson submitted a letter to the city’s senior land use and development planner stating that he would be violating the city’s adequate public facilities code if he signed off on 161 West St., because the six apartments will add to the city’s population.

“We find the proposed project inadequate as it relates to police protection,” Jackson wrote.

Tom Smith, chief of planning for the city, referred questions about the discrepancy to Stephenson. Stephenson said the project is moving forward because it is too small to trigger the city’s public facilities code, which only applies to projects greater than 10,000 square feet.

Yet on Oct. 21, 2022, senior planner Kevin Scott sent the project plans off to Jackson and several other department heads for public facilities review. Public records on file with the city include Scott’s memo and responses from the fire, public works and

transportation departments.

Title 22 of the Annapolis City Code, which was adopted in 2006, states that “A Certificate of Adequate Public Facilities shall be required to be issued before any approval of a Major Site Design Plan.” The law is intended to make sure public services such as water, sewers, stormwater management and recreation space will be adequate once the project is complete and brings more residents to the city.

If city departments feel public facilities cannot adequately support the project, the developer may be asked to revise plans and add features like a traffic light or stormwater drain, or contribute funds so that the city can make relevant improvements.

Annapolis is the only Maryland municipality that includes police staffing in its APF ordinance, according to land use and law enforcement experts. The 2006 statute requires the city to employ 3.2 police officers for every 1,000 residents. Like many departments coping with a nationwide police recruiting crisis, the Annapolis Police Department has not been fully staffed for years.

Several years ago, Jackson began signing off on so-called mitigation agreements, where developers would agree to steps they could take to limit the strain new projects might place on the police department, such as installing security cameras and hiring private security. Jackson has described approving those agreements as “being a good soldier” and following orders from City Hall.

In April 2022, Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Cathleen M. Vitale ruled that practice had to stop, stating the city’s public facilities law does not allow for such exceptions. Her opinion came in response to an appeal by two residents who successfully challenged the adequate public facilities certificate for The Lofts at Eastport Landing, a redevelopment project at Eastport Shopping Center.

Vitale rejected the developer’s plan to add 10 security cameras and hire private security guards. “The code specifies that there are no exceptions allowed for any projects,” Vitale wrote.

In the fall, the city began telling developers that Vitale’s ruling meant the chief would no longer be signing off on APF certificates, effectively triggering a moratorium on projects that required major site design review. The police department circulated a list of stalled projects that included 161 West St., Godspeed Senior Housing, a mixed-use development called Parole Place and The Willows, an income-restricted apartment complex.

For months, partners involved in The Willows have been lobbying City Council to find a solution for the public facilities quandary and allow the project to go before the planning commission for final approval. The 58-home community has been in the works since 2019, and pairs Ingerman, a New Jersey developer, and Housing Initiative Partnership, a Hyattsville nonprofit. A state and federal tax credit package to finance The Willows will expire at the end of 2024 if residents have not yet moved in.

After a Feb. 16 City Council work session, where City Council members verbally committed to finding a solution, the chief asked members to completely drop the 3.2-officers-per-1,000-resident provision from the APF ordinance, and instead conduct a “workload study” that would use other factors to determine adequate police staffing.

Some council members indicated they were open to Jackson’s request, but also sought an interim solution, especially to help The Willows. At Monday’s council meeting, Ward 7 Alderman Rob Savidge introduced a bill that would allow mitigation agreements for police. The measure passed unanimously and was sent to two committees for further review.

In a move that could signify he expects the council to pass a solution in the near future, Jackson, on Feb. 23, signed a mitigation agreement for The Willows. At some point, he also signed an undated mitigation agreement for Parole Place.

There is still no mitigation agreement on file for 161 West St., however.

In an interview Wednesday, Buckley said he had no idea that his partner’s project was on the Planning Commission agenda for Thursday, and reiterated that the project was too small to require APF.

“I’m not involved in any of the decision-making for any of the real estate,” Buckley said.

The Planning Commission meets virtually at 7 p.m. March 2. The meeting can be viewed on the city’s Youtube channel.