Annapolis businesses lament construction disruptions from City Dock project

The hunt for street parking in downtown Annapolis is about to get even more competitive.

As construction work continues at the Annapolis City Dock, extended fencing will temporarily block off more parking spaces along Dock Street.

That’s in addition to the spaces already behind construction fencing. The new fencing, to be installed Jan. 19, will extend up Dock Street between Craig and Randall streets.

“These changes will absolutely be inconvenient, but they are necessary,” Mayor Jared Littmann said during a recent City Council meeting.

He said the city worked with construction managers to postpone the parking closure “as long as possible,” but it was impossible to wait any longer.

“This will be a challenge for the businesses in the immediate area,” Littman said during the meeting. “We acknowledge the challenge.”

He said the city would install signage to help visitors navigate the construction and find parking, including marking routes between nearby parking and Dock Street, on or before Jan. 19.

Street parking around the rest of Annapolis remains accessible, though is likely to become scarcer with the start of the legislative session Wednesday.

About two dozen parking spaces will remain available on upper Dock Street, city officials said.

Upper and lower Dock Street had about 120 street parking spaces before construction began, city spokesperson Mitchelle Stephenson said in an email. The city added 165 parking spaces to the Mills Hillman garage — about a 5-minute walk away up Main Street — to offset the parking loss, she said.

During that City Council meeting earlier this week, a handful of local business operators said construction fencing and the removal of parking spaces has resulted in declining visits.

“By taking away so much parking, and putting up so much fencing, you’re taking away foot traffic,” said Samantha Wilkerson, co-owner of the Annapolis Marine Art Gallery.

Visitors to downtown Annapolis, she said, look down toward Dock Street and the harbor and assume “there’s nothing to do here” because of all the construction fencing.

Patty Templeton, a manager at a Dock Street coffee shop, told the council that the area around the cafe has become a ”dead zone.” She said she’s worried about having to lay off employees.

“Nothing has changed much,” in terms of city signage pointing toward the businesses obscured by the construction fencing, she said.

“I’m just so frustrated right now,” she said Tuesday.

One silver lining, Templeton said, is that some people who attended the City Council meeting Monday and heard her testimony have stopped by the coffee shop today to offer support.

Alderman Harry Huntley, who represents Ward 1, said it was “heartbreaking” to hear the testimony from business owners and managers who are hurting.

“Absolutely, we want to help out those businesses,” he said.

The City Dock construction work is planned in phases, with breaks in October for the annual boat shows, Stephenson wrote.

“Of course, this is all temporary and when it reopens completely, it will not flood. That is what we are getting to with this project,” she wrote. “Resiliency.”

The Mills Hillman Garage, which is behind City Hall, has 590 parking spaces. It requires payment but is rarely full.

The City Dock project is designed to physically elevate the waterfront to protect against flooding events and sea-level rise. It also will create a new park next to Ego Alley. Construction is supposed to be completed in phases over three years.