Elly Tierney: Prioritizing resilience over historic debate amid climate change | COMMENTARY - Capital Gazette

Elly Tierney: Prioritizing resilience over historic debate amid climate change | COMMENTARY - Capital Gazette

In January, a severe storm traveling up the Eastern U.S. Seaboard brought heavy rainfall and high winds to many mid-Atlantic coastal communities.

The City of Annapolis registered its third-highest water level on record at 3.67 feet above Mean Higher High Water (MHHW), surpassed only by Hurricane Isabel in 2003 and the Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane of 1933.

The flooding from the Jan. 9-10 storm caused damage to buildings and public infrastructure downtown and hardship for local businesses in the Dock Street area. Some of those businesses took months to recover — and reopen to customers. During the early dawn peak of the storm surge, I joined Mayor Gavin Buckley at City Dock.

Due to the height of the water, we navigated the flooded streets in the deputy harbormaster’s truck bed to assess the impact. Dock Street businesses, including the historic Burtis House, were engulfed by water like an island in a vast sea. Sandbags were helpful, but not enough. Seeing historic buildings so vulnerable to the harm flood waters can do was heartbreaking. To some structures, it is irreversible.

Since then, a rift has emerged between Historic Annapolis (HA) and the mayor over the proposed welcome center building at City Dock, intended to replace the harbormaster headquarters and update amenities for visiting boaters.

The welcome center, strongly advocated by the mayor, has had both support and opposition. The concerns are the growing budget and adherence to National Historic guidelines, a guiding principle for development in the historic district. Viewshed and massing, a purview of our Historic Preservation Commission, is a concern. But the mayor is a target as well.

My experience with Buckley in January shifted my perspective in several ways. First, the “debate” over the welcome center is secondary to what I observed and could severely affect the project schedule.

Next, the harbormaster building must be demolished for the raised park (an earthen berm that will become the main feature of flood mitigation), so expanding the Burtis House to accommodate essential maritime public safety functions and attract more boaters makes sense.

In so doing, the project would retrofit the building substantially to withstand the next storm. Finally, in its final report, the City Dock Action Committee (CDAC) agreed to limit the scope to public land and buildings and not include private properties.

Consequently, involving private buildings to fulfill programmatic needs is not within the CDAC’s scope or the public’s purview.

The Annapolis Planning Commission wisely separated the project into two reviews: 1) the resilience and 2) the buildings. The project will be phased similarly, prioritizing the resilience and site elements over the building. I know from professional experience that the reputable construction manager will have each phase estimated and monitored to stay within budget. That is their job.

The project review has been thorough in design development, with every city review meeting made public and available online. The resilience portion involves significant infrastructure work, including utility demolition and relocation, expanding primary outfall pipes, consolidating all utility controls, and creating an elevated berm requiring substantial amounts of imported fill.

The public can review and comment on the buildings concurrently, but be mindful to avoid impacting progress. We must unite to move forward and support the project’s less visible yet critical parts, designed by civil, site and infrastructure professionals we have under contract. And yes, stay diligent with respective committee reviews.

In conclusion, the 2024 Atlantic hurricane season started with a vengeance, and according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the season has an 85% chance of being above average.

Climate change is warming our oceans and causing sea levels to rise, increasing storm surge risks, something we just saw with the strength of Hurricane Beryl, landing earlier and with more wind and storm surge than those island nations have ever seen. Annapolis faces enormous damage potential from future hurricanes and tropical storms.

Given these high stakes, we must advance this project to ensure our community’s resilience and the protection of our historic downtown for future generations.

Elly Tierney is alderwoman of Ward 1 in Annapolis.