Annapolis’ $100 million overhaul of City Dock can go forward because the commission that approved the plans did not violate city law, an Anne Arundel County judge ruled.

The decision by Circuit Judge Michael Malone settled one hurdle for the project, which reimagines Annapolis’ iconic waterfront in part to protect it from climate change, but two others remain: a separate legal challenge and $33 million in limbo while the Federal Emergency Management Agency under President Donald Trump’s administration evaluates the project.

In his opinion Sunday, Malone found “no clear error or abuse of discretion” by the Historic Preservation Commission of Annapolis as it considered and ultimately approved the City Dock Resiliency Project. In doing so, the judge rejected a lawsuit brought for an anonymous plaintiff who alleged the commission committed several procedural violations.

“The [Historic Preservation Commission], as an administrative agency, is given considerable weight by this Court in its interpretation and application of statutes that they themselves administer,” Malone wrote. “Here, though it is alleged to be improper by Petitioner, the [commission] clearly made the determination that they were compliant with the statutory requirements.”

The anonymous plaintiff had argued that the commission failed to abide by its own rules for giving notice ahead of its meetings. Malone said that argument was undercut by the fact that the plaintiff “claimed to have attended and given testimony at the meetings they themselves allege were in violation of procedure.”

C. Edward Hartman III, the attorney representing the anonymous plaintiff, said in a text message that the legal team was “reviewing the opinion and order with our client, who will decide the next steps.”

Hartman, however, already filed court papers asking Malone to prohibit the city from beginning the project until a potential appeal is decided.

Hartman argued in the lawsuit that the city couldn’t demolish the Harbor Master Building at City Dock, alleging the 50-year-old structure was historic under the law, without plans for a replacement.

Malone determined the building was historic and that Annapolis’ code allows a historic structure to be replaced with a park, as is planned with the restoration.

“Upon adverse ruling the City would take immediate action to demolish the Harbor Master’s Building; therefore, depriving Petitioner the opportunity to exercise his rights to appeal,” wrote Hartman, adding that the city obtained permits to cut off water and sewer to the building and tear it down. “Any changes made … pending a potential appeal would be irreversible.’

In a March 20 interview, Buckley, a Democrat in his last year as mayor, expressed eagerness to set the project into action before he leaves office.

“We have the site prepped already,” Buckley told The Banner. “After the decision, we will start immediately doing the utility work.”

Buckley said 16 utility poles and the lines between them needed to be moved underground, transformed into power vaults underneath sidewalks.

“We have to be ready to start on the park and raise everything after the boat show,” said Buckley, referring to the Annapolis Sailboat Show slated for Oct. 9 through 12.

FEMA has put about $33 million on hold until the agency finishes its detailed review of the project under the National Environmental Protection Act.

Since Trump took office, he has proposed eliminating FEMA. Under Trump, the agency paused grant payments to upgrade the country’s emergency alert system. A federal judge declined to force the federal government to release the funds it had frozen.

City spokeswoman Mitchelle Stephenson said in an email that Annapolis “staff continue to work toward a grant award that will allow construction to begin after the Fall Boat Show.”

There’s also a lawsuit from Historic Annapolis Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the city’s past, which argues that the City Dock project’s Maritime Welcome Center would “compete with and obliterate” a 19th century city-owned house, allegedly violating provisions of the city law for historic properties.

Located on Prince George Street, Burtis House is the last “waterman’s cottage in an area that was once a thriving waterman’s port — with canneries, seafood packing houses, and freight rail service (where State Legislature offices are now located on Bladen Street) that transported the bounty of the Chesapeake Bay,” the city said in a November news release announcing plans to fortify the structure.

Under the City Dock Resiliency Project, Burtis House would be placed on a new, raised foundation and, eventually, connected with the Maritime Welcome Center.

Historic Annapolis President and CEO Karen Theimer Brown said in a March 19 statement that the organization supported environmental resiliency efforts at City Dock.

“We applaud the City for its efforts to protect our waterfront from flooding,” Brown said. “Our concerns are about the size and scale of the [Maritime Welcome Center] building. The [center] has nothing to do with resiliency and addressing the serious flooding threats to our historic waterfront.”

Hartman is representing Historic Annapolis in its legal challenge. The city has not responded to that lawsuit. Hartman did not file a motion to freeze the City Dock project on Historic Annapolis’ behalf, as he did in the anonymous plaintiff case, meaning that legal action is not preventing the city from going forward with the project.

Other than noting that Historic Annapolis’ lawsuit was separate from the anonymous plaintiff’s, the city declined to comment on it, citing the pending case.