Opponents of plans to build apartment towers at Baltimore’s Harborplace renewed efforts Thursday to defeat a ballot question needed for the controversial redevelopment.

A week before early voting starts in Maryland, a group of city residents launched the “Vote F-No” campaign, promising to spread the slogan on T-shirts and billboards and take their message to polling places.

Members of the group, Protect Our Parks, hope to persuade city voters to say no to Ballot Question F, which they say will allow a developer to strip nearly five acres of public parkland from the Inner Harbor and privatize the waterfront site with 900 apartments. The group is led by attorney Thiru Vignarajah, who led a failed court challenge of the referendum.

“This is the first time in modern Baltimore history that parkland is being taken away from Baltimore citizens,” said Federal Hill resident Sandra Seward, a member of the group, during a news conference at McKeldin Square adjacent to Harborplace. “This allows a developer to profit from our public land. The proposed project will replace the parkland with the apartments.”

Question F would allow Harborplace owner MCB Real Estate to replace the two aging shopping and dining pavilions with four taller buildings that would include office space, a conjoined 32-story apartment tower and off-street parking. It also would add a new park and two-tier promenades, and realign roadways.

MCB Real Estate’s P. David Bramble declined to comment on the “Vote F-No” effort. A spokeswoman referred questions to Ballard Spahr land-use attorney Jon Laria, who serves as chairman of ballot issue committee Baltimore for a New Harborplace, which supports the redevelopment effort and ballot question. The group’s treasurer is MCB development director Jonathan Sandoval.

Laria said MCB’s plan adds parks and public space once roads are realigned, and increases access to the Inner Harbor and its waters.

“It’s just not correct to say we’re taking park space,” said Laria, adding that the project at ground level would occupy less, not more, space. “I’m not saying it’s going to look the same. My argument is it’s going to look better.”

The estimated $900 million Harborplace project, backed by Mayor Brandon Scott, is expected to need $400 million in public funds to redevelop promenades and public spaces, and reconfigure Pratt, Light and Conway streets. City and state officials support the project as a chance to revitalize the city waterfront by replacing the pavilions that have sat neglected and deteriorating for years.

Opponents have argued in court that the ballot question, which will amend the City Charter, will confuse and mislead voters. It’s the last piece in a series of already-passed city approvals that have included rezoning and amendments to Baltimore’s urban renewal plan.

The charter amendment would expand the area of the city’s ground lease with the developer to 4.5 acres from the current 3.2 acres.

“To be clear, everyone in the group supports revitalizing the Inner Harbor,” said Stephen Topping, a Federal Hill resident and member of the parks group, on Thursday. “We all love Baltimore. But prioritizing and investing in the Inner Harbor does not require subsidies to private developers. It calls for public leadership and the commitment of resources.”

Baltimore ranks low in per capita parkland compared with other cities and needs more of that resource, said James Prost, another group member.

“We have to take away precious parkland for luxury apartments?” Prost said.

George Frazier, a Fells Point resident, said he is surprised there’s been no outcry from developers around the city, and called for “a competing plan.”

“It’s going to suck valuable potential tenants from sites that they have already developed,” he said. “The tenancy is not there. There’s too many apartment buildings in Baltimore.”

The opponents’ new campaign is the latest salvo in a contentious battle over the Harborplace ballot question.

Last week, the Supreme Court of Maryland ruled that election officials should count Question F ballots. The decision reversed a previous ruling by Anne Arundel Circuit Court Judge Catherine Vitale, who said the question was worded too confusingly and wasn’t “proper charter material.” Vignarajah had challenged it on behalf of 20 petitioners.

Vignarajah, a four-time candidate for city office who was away during Thursday’s press conference, sued to stop Question F’s certification after failing to gather enough signatures for his own opposing ballot measure.

After the state’s highest court ruled, Bramble said in a statement that he believes Baltimoreans share his firm’s vision for a reimagined Harborplace and Inner Harbor Park.

“We’re thrilled that the Maryland Supreme Court saw through this charade of opposition-at-any-cost and ruled that Baltimore’s residents were capable of making their voices heard on the future of Harborplace,” a statement from the mayor’s office said. “This revitalization is long-overdue, and we are looking forward to this ballot question passing so we can ensure the future of one of our City’s best assets remains bright.”

Members of Protect Our Parks said Thursday that they weren’t deterred by the recent court loss, blaming it on a technicality of filing too close to the election, and said they have no plans to give up.

“For us, this isn’t over,” Seward said. “We feel that we have a responsibility now. … We’re not going away.”

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