Salisbury realtor sues city over downtown development plans

SALISBURY, Md. – A local realtor has filed suit against the City of Salisbury and Salisbury Town Center Apartments, LLC.

“We’re going to have complete chaos downtown,”

Holly Worthington said ambitious plans for development downtown would threaten parking and businesses for entrepreneurs like herself.

“My concern is, this all starts going on, we’re going to have complete chaos downtown,” Worthington said.

The declaratory judgment is seeking an injunction, specifically regarding lot 15 in downtown Salisbury. Plaintiff attorney Anthony Gorski said the 2023 contract that greenlit the plans to develop the area into a residential and retail complex is illegal. He added the contract too tightly binds the City’s ability to make future decisions with its fullest power in the project.

“It exempts them from performing certain requirements that are in the (zoning) code … The request is that the court strike the contract, strike the deeds, and put us back to square one,” Gorski said.

Parking, Public Input Problems

The development project is slated to replace downtown surface parking, particularly lot 15, with residences, retail, and a $10 million parking garage. For Worthington, she says the project threatens her business, clients, and tenants.

“Where my building sits, we have no direct street parking. We have no unloading zone. And so, lot 15 is the lot that we utilize … They’re talking about putting a parking garage up, and they’re also talking about doing this construction simultaneously, but there’s nothing that states the parking garage has to be built prior to construction,” Worthington said.

And while the plan is for the garage to include more than 400 parking spaces, Gorski claims it will not be large enough to meet future needs, nor will current user fees cover the total cost.

“I think anyone who’s parked downtown and paid rates that downtown parking charges can look ta that and see that that’s not going to pay for a $10 million parking garage … The size that’s proposed is barely big enough to cover the current parking needs,” Gorski said.

The lawsuit also claims there was a lack of public input when the city approved the project plans. Worthington said she invested about $200,000 in her historic building, located at 300 West Main Street, and said she is disheartened by the prospect of a downtown that she said would be incohesive.

“I think it’s going to cheapen what we have down here, and having no parking with this building is, I think, detrimental to my investment that I have down here, as well … You have to take into consideration everything else that’s already downtown. You can’t just add to it and then not see how it’s going to impact the whole thing,” Worthington said.

Looking Ahead

Looking ahead, Gorski said he is hoping the judge will review the contract and find that it is illegal. “The request is that the court strike the contract, strike the deeds, and put us back to square one.”

And, Gorski stressed that he and Worthington do not feel the fault lies at the feet of Mayor Randy Raylor. They said the deals were done before he ever took office, adding the lawsuit instead takes aim at what they call overzealous planning from the previous administration.

Mayor Taylor Responds

WMDT reached out to the City of Salisbury, requesting an interview with Mayor Taylor and City Administrator Andy Kitzrow, who is named as the party served. City officials said Mayor Taylor could not comment on the pending litigation and provided a statement.

“These development agreements by the prior administration are not conducive to the health of the Downtown. I believe the facts support that. As I have predicted, the proposed projects will bring litigation. As mayor, it’s my intention to continue to make Salisbury a place people want to visit and call home both now and for generations to come,” Mayor Taylor stated.