Monday’s ruling by Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Cathleen Vitale blocking the way for developer P. David Bramble’s $500 million plan to redevelop Harborplace raises serious questions about the future of Baltimore’s Inner Harbor and whether the city has the authority to amend its charter. The project certainly has been controversial — and worthy of a robust public debate over its pros and cons — but the ruling means the proposed charter amendment needed to allow Bramble’s MCB Real Estate to proceed while still appearing on the November ballot will be nullified no matter how the vote goes. That’s because the judge declared the amendment “not proper charter material,” so it’s unclear whether a differently worded charter amendment would ever be acceptable.

Confused? You probably should be. This would seem a triumph of legal technicalities over democratic principles. Whether you love or hate MCB’s plan to scrap the waterfront pavilions in favor of high-rises, this amounts to a failure to provide Baltimore with a reasonable path to self-govern. Mayor Brandon Scott and an overwhelming majority of the Baltimore City Council voted to approve the proposal. Providing voters the final say on whether to approve or reject it would seem the most democratic of options. That the project offers a rare chance to give an African American developer with Baltimore roots the kind of opportunity offered only to politically connected white business owners in the past should not be ignored either.

Oh, we know the criticisms of this process well enough. Some have argued that voters rarely reject charter amendments, so it’s too low a bar. Others complain that the “Question F” wording is vague and confusing — Judge Vitale among them — and there’s surely some truth in that. But are we really going to claim the electorate is completely unaware of Bramble’s plan at this point? Has any matter before Baltimore’s elected officials gotten more attention in the media (aside, perhaps, from the destruction of the Francis Scott Key Bridge)?

We appreciate the huge contribution James Rouse made to the city when Harborplace opened in 1980. But we are wary of letting stand any judicial ruling that denies the voters of Baltimore the power to reconsider a choice made more than four decades ago. Maybe Harborplace should never have been amended into the city charter, but it’s there now. That circumstance simply doesn’t justify denying city residents the fundamental right of self-determination.