A federal judge ruled Wednesday that residents of Poppleton do not have standing to sue a developer and city officials over a long-delayed redevelopment project that displaced more than 100 households.
The ruling means that New York-based La Cité Development will continue to control much of the vacant land in Poppleton, extending a saga that stretches back two decades.
The decision comes more than two months after residents and supporters of Poppleton’s neighborhood association packed the courtroom of U.S. District Court Judge Adam B. Abelson for the pivotal hearing.
The defendants, include La Cité Development, Baltimore, the city’s housing authority, and individual current and former city officials, including Sheila Dixon. Dixon was City Council president in 2006 when Baltimore signed a contract giving La Cité broad control over 13.8 acres of land in Poppleton.
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During the April 9 court hearing, lawyers for the defendants asked the judge to dismiss the case, arguing that the residents who brought the suit did not live within La Cité’s development footprint and therefore did not have a legal right to bring the case.
The lawsuit filed last year by members of Poppleton Now cited reporting from The Baltimore Banner that found that the city picked La Cité — a relatively inexperienced developer with no track record of large projects — despite multiple warnings from residents and city employees.
The lawsuit pointed to a 2005 Essence Magazine feature on Dixon while city officials were weighing bids to redevelop Poppleton. The then-editorial director of Essence was an investor in La Cite’s project, and the feature included an expenses-paid trip to New York for “pampering and primping.”
Poppleton Now’s lawsuit pointed to the “suspicious” timing of that feature, but the judge’s opinion said the lawsuit did not have sufficient facts to connect Dixon to the other allegations.
In a phone interview Wednesday, Dixon called the lawsuit frivolous.
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“I know — and my God knows — the whole truth of that Poppleton development," Dixon said. “The truth is it’s only been a benefit to that community.”
Roughly two decades after signing its deal with the city, La Cité has completed only a single apartment complex made up of two buildings. That is the first “subphase” of what was originally supposed to be a four-phase overhaul of Poppleton, and it represents 8% of what La Cité intended to build.
Along the way, the development team was paid millions of dollars in “overhead” costs, lost another subphase of the project to an investor, and dramatically scaled back its vision for the neighborhood.
The city cancelled its contract with La Cité last year, but earlier this year officials conceded the developer still controls much of the city-owned land in Poppleton.
La Cité did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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Poppleton Now’s lawsuit sought to challenge Baltimore’s use of eminent domain when it gave control of more than 500 properties to La Cité. Courts have repeatedly affirmed that eminent domain is a broad and established power that allows the government to take private property.
Rather than skirt the issue of eminent domain, the lawsuit took it head on, saying what Baltimore did to Poppleton was unconstitutional. The lawsuit argued that eminent domain was not used to benefit the public; it was used to benefit a politically connected private developer.
Leaving the courthouse in April, Sonia Eaddy, president of Poppleton Now, described the lawsuit as a last resort for her and her neighbors. Their attorney, Tom Prevas, said in a statement Wednesday that the plaintiffs are weighing their options.
The Department of Housing and Community Development, which oversees the city’s deal with La Cité, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Housing Authority of Baltimore City, which used to be part of DHCD, was also a defendant in the lawsuit.
“Based on the court’s dismissal of the case, it is clear that the Poppleton Now lawsuit should not have been filed,” spokeswoman Ingrid Antonio said in an email.
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