CAMBRIDGE, MD - The city has filed a lawsuit against Cambridge Waterfront Development Incorporated (CWDI), alleging that the non-profit organization has violated its agreement with the city.
According to city officials, CWDI attempted to sell a piece of land, a move that the city claims breaches their agreement. WBOC was told for more than 6 months, the city has been voicing concerns about the direction of this project. And essentially, this violation was the straw that broke the camel's back.
The City of Cambridge had sold approximately 10 acres of land to CWDI for $5 back in 2022. However, CWDI was also expected to fulfill a number of promises as part of the agreement.
"As part of that agreement, they were required to issue a request for proposals, to find a master site developer, make all of that public, select a master site developer, and they haven't done any of that," said Caroll.
CWDI intended to sell 2.6 acres of the land to a yacht maintenance company. However, Carroll stated that all these steps needed to be completed before any land could be sold.
"They made certain promises to the city in writing in a legally binding document, and they haven't fulfilled those. And we're suing them to enforce those promises that were made in that transfer agreement," Caroll said. He added, "We have to win this lawsuit. If they choose to have a legal battle the City has to put our community first and our tax payers first and make sure that this rouge organization doesn't just do what they want to do in breach of their prior agreements."
City commissioners voted 3 to 1 in favor of filing the lawsuit. Commissioner Lajan Cephas was the sole dissenting vote. While she acknowledged that the lawsuit was probably inevitable, she expressed concerns about the project's completion.
"I'm just hoping that this action has not fractured that relationship, and I'm just hoping, again, as I mentioned before, again a tennis match of litigation because it's very important that this project happens," said Ward 2 Commissioner Lajan Cephas. "I believe in the project. I don't agree with the project as it stands at this moment, but it's extremely important that we complete this project."
The lawsuit filed by the City of Cambridge seeks $75,000 in damages. When reached for comment, the executive director, Matt Leonard of CWDI said they have no comment.
