Bel Air commissioner aims to preserve open space by increasing fee to bypass requirement

Developers looking to build in Bel Air may be forced to pay higher fees to dodge open space requirements should a new ordinance be passed by the Town Commissioners.

Per town code, 15% of a development project’s total area is required to be reserved for open space. Open space can be amenities like a tennis court and playgrounds or a grass field.

Developers can pay a fee to waive the requirement, but Town Commissioner Jakob Taylor, who introduced the proposal, believes the current fee structure of $50,000 per-acre of waived open space is too low.

Taylor wants to maintain Bel Air’s small-town character while continuing to allow developers to make investments.

“We are happy to get investment into our community, but it should be done in a way that is respectful to our neighbors and the history and tradition of Bel Air,” Taylor said. “This legislation strikes the balance of preserving our tradition while providing investment in our future.”

Funds obtained from the so-called “fee in lieu of open space” go into the town’s Open Space Recreation Fund and are invested to maintain and preserve existing open space within the town as a way to compensate for any lost open space due to development.

“In order for a development to be successful in Bel Air, it has to fit the character of the town,” Taylor said. “Bel Air is a small town and we really value our open green space.”

The ordinance is Taylor’s first piece of legislation since he was elected in 2023. If passed, it will refine and add additional provisions to the current ordinance language by establishing the fee in lieu of open space rate for areas like downtown Bel Air to be at 110% of the State Department of Assessment and Taxation’s value of the property.

Taylor said the enhanced fee follows the model used by Harford County. If passed, the town would use the state property assessments as a base for the 110% rate to go off of, removing the burden of town officials needing to update the rate later on since state assessments update every three years.

For areas of the town already heavily developed – specifically, the area surrounding the Harford Mall and most of west Bel Air – the proposed ordinance grants developers the ability to pay a fee in lieu to waive a maximum of 5.25% of their 15% open space requirement granting developers a requirement of needing only 9.75% of their project to be dedicated to open space when they a pay fee in lieu for development with qualifying zoning code.

“We put in the provision because anyone developing in that area knows it is already a lot of asphalt, which makes it hard to reclaim green space,” Taylor said.

The fee in lieu of open space rate in areas like the Harford Mall is proposed to be set at 150% of the property’s state assessment. This provision serves as an entirely new addition to the existing code.

The proposed ordinance specifies that areas in Bel Air zoned low, medium and high-density residential as well as residential office districts, limited business districts and industrial districts are not eligible for in lieu of open space.

Taylor stated that when he was campaigning before his election in 2023, town residents expressed concerns with the town’s current open space practices. Due to the concerns, Taylor said addressing the fee in lieu of open space in Bel Air has been his top priority.

Ordinance 826-24 is scheduled for a public hearing during the Bel Air Town Commissioners meeting on June 3 at 7 p.m. in the Bel Air Town Hall.

If after the public hearing, the commissioners presume the ordinance to be in good standing, a vote of final passage of the ordinance may be issued during the meeting.