A petition for legal review of a proposed ballot question needed to rezone Baltimore’s Harborplace was filed Thursday by a coalition of city residents, a move that comes just hours before the scheduled start of ballot printing.

The group, which includes a former city councilman, a known architect and the son of the original Harborplace developer, is challenging the wording of the question, which would expand the allowable uses along the Inner Harbor to include residential development as well as commercial uses.

The ballot question, now known as Question F, is needed to clear the way for an ambitious proposal from Baltimore developer MCB Real Estate to replace the beleaguered shopping and dining pavilions on the city’s waterfront. Led by Baltimore-native P. David Bramble, the group hopes to build four taller, mixed-use buildings, including a conjoined tower stretching 32 stories. MCB’s plan calls for 900 apartments and office space on the site along with a large new park space, a two-tier promenade and realigned roadways.

The Baltimore City Council placed the question on the ballot with the support of the majority of its members in March despite protests from some city residents who public Inner Harbor shoreline, much of which was preserved as parkland by charter amendments in the late 1970s. Residents have objected to the proposed density, the removal of height limits, the inclusion of apartments and the road-narrowing plan.

The challenge, filed minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline Thursday, takes issue with the wording of the ballot question as it would be printed on the ballot. Currently the question gives a detailed geographical description of the Inner Harbor area and states that it will be amended to allow “for eating places, commercial uses, multifamily residential development and off-street parking with the areas used for multifamily dwellings and off-street parking as excluded from the area dedicated as a public park or for public benefit.”

The printing of ballots for voters across the state is slated to begin Friday. Maryland State Board of Elections Director Jared DeMarinis would not comment Thursday on the filing, but said “the law is clear as to what the judicial review is for.”

“They can seek review of the content and arrangement or to correct any administrative error,” he said. “It is not to re-litigate decided questions.”

DeMarinis said the law also makes clear the courts must hear judicial review petitions on an expedited basis. DeMarinis would not comment on any planned response to the filing by the state board.

During arguments before the Supreme Court of Maryland last week over two unrelated proposed ballot questions, an attorney for the Maryland State Board of Elections told justices that any changes made to ballots after Sept. 8 “would be very expensive and disruptive to the process.”

Representing the challengers is Thiru Vignarajah, a former mayoral candidate who has been a vocal opponent of the proposed Harborplace development. On the campaign trail, Vignarajah called the proposal a “backroom deal” between Bramble and Mayor Brandon Scott, who supports the development, and an “exclusive resort for the wealthiest of the wealthy.” This summer, Vignarajah led an unsuccessful effort to put a competing ballot question before voters that would have barred residential development at the Inner Harbor and other city parks. The question came of the 10,000 necessary signatures for a citizen-driven ballot question.

Courts would have the power to suspend ballot printing, however Vignarajah said he did not ask in his petition to postpone the process. While there has been ample discussion about the Harborplace proposal, a poll conducted for The Baltimore Sun, University of Baltimore and FOX45 in April showed the majority of city voters favored the plan. Of those surveyed, 59% said they supported the proposal. An additional 20% said they opposed the plan while 21% said they were unsure.