Now that the amended City Dock Master Plan (CDMP) has been approved by the Annapolis City Council, Cohen is taking every opportunity to tout it as a singular accomplishment. In reality, he is personally responsible for creating a bitter community street fight over the last six months and inflicting wounds in our community that will take years to heal. More specifically, he:
- Championed a flawed CDMP advocating for excessive building heights, reduction in parking space and elimination of Memorial Circle,
- Sponsored Ordinance O-7-13 to enable development of an out-of-scale/style building that trades City property for a boardwalk largely benefiting its tenants,
- Triggered an incendiary battle with respected citizen and business groups, including the leader credited with making Annapolis the nation’s premier Boat Show,
- Failed to frame the needed refinement to Maritime Zoning, which I support, as well as enforceable assurances that change will not trigger a chain reaction.
Reasonable people differ on Annapolis’ future, in particular the scale and form of development — such debate is healthy. I voted for Cohen in the last election, and I happily contributed to that campaign; I wanted him to be successful and do not question his integrity. What I cannot forgive is his unfortunate bad judgment in aggressively pushing forward the flawed CDMP and Ordinance O-7-13.
His actions have set back constructive progress — how different the discussion would be today had he recognized the need to make changes well before attempting to get them ratified! Cohen has not earned my vote, and I hope enough others feel the same way
Robert (Bob) Jones Annapolis, MD