Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford. File photo.

The city of Hartford has won a major ruling which clears the way for development to move forward on long-empty parcels surrounding Dunkin’ Donuts Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats minor league baseball team.

The parcels in the city’s DoNo, or Downtown North, neighborhood have sat vacant while a court fight between the city and former developer Centerplan Construction Co. played out. The city had fired Centerplan in 2016 over substandard work in the ballpark’s construction. Centerplan sued the city for $90 million after being kicked off the project and later placed liens on the parcels around the park, which it had been in line to develop.

A jury had ruled in July that the city’s decision to fire Centerplan was justified and petitioned the state Superior Court to discharge the liens, but Centerplan appealed. An appeals court ruled Wednesday in support of the Superior Court’s discharge order.

Stamford-based RMS Cos., the city’s new choice to develop parcels around the ballpark, is now able to get underway with 200 units of apartments and 11,000 square feet of retail space in a $46 million 200,000-square-foot building next to the park.

“We are in the final stages of negotiating a development agreement with RMS Cos., and this decision fully clears the way forward,” Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin said in a statement.  “We are looking forward to pursuing the vision for Downtown North that was always promised to Hartford residents. We made a tough call three years ago to fire the developer we inherited and protect taxpayers, and it is a big win for the city of Hartford to now open a new chapter. I want to again thank our entire legal team and city staff who have worked hard to put us in this position.”