Most of Bel Air?s skyline will remain three stories high.
The town?s commissioners rejected a request to exempt a developer?s plans for four stories, or 53 feet, in Bel Air, which would make it one level above the limit for most of the town: three stories, or 40 feet.
Mayor Terence Hanley failed to get a higher limit for an apartment complex, which should break ground in September, when his motion got no second.
“I don?t think four stories is a bad deal for Bel Air,” Hanley said. “We can?t grow out, so we?ve got to grow up.”
Commissioner David Carey abstained from voting and discussion, because his law partner owns nearby property and objected to the building.
“I don?t think four stories is a bad deal for Bel Air,” Hanley said. “We can?t grow out, so we?ve got to grow up.”
Residents of nearby English Country Manor apartment complex expressed concern about increased traffic congestion, and Commissioner Robert Reier said their objections, not the height alone, led to the proposal?s failing.
Nearly 200 apartments have been approved by the town, and developer Michael Jones wanted to build the remaining 40 apartment four stories high. Now Jones must come back in two months with a new plan for the remaining estimated 40 apartments behind Harford Mall, designated for people 55 years and older.
Between Main and Bond streets, and fronting Routes 1 and 24 downtown, the town height limit changed to five stories in recent years. In the rest of the county, outside Bel Air, the limit is four stories.
“Not having that approved kind of could be discouraging for the future of Bel Air,” Hanley said. “There is some good opportunity in Bel Air for some redevelopment. We have to think to the future.”
Reier sees four stories in Bel Air as imminent.
“With the growth that?s going on in Harford County and in Bel Air, that?s probably destined to happen,” he said.
