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Bel Air receives fee-schedule amendments, schedules public hearing for May 5
Summary
The board received proposed fee-schedule amendments that would revise traffic impact analysis fees and add a pass‑through approach for Harford County/state document‑recording charges; the board set a public hearing on the amendments for May 5.
The Board of Town Commissioners on April 21 received proposed amendments to the town fee schedule and set a public hearing on the changes for May 5 at Town Hall.
Staff proposed two substantive changes highlighted during the meeting: a revision to the traffic impact analysis (TIA) fees and an amendment to how the town handles document-recording fees. The TIA language would change the determination-of-scope fee from $900 to $250 and add a $1,000 fee for review of a traffic impact analysis study. The document-recording fee language would make the town collect and remit county and state recording fees as a pass-through rather than listing specific dollar amounts in the town schedule; staff noted Harford County and the state set those amounts and they change infrequently.
Mr. Krantz explained the document-recording change as intended to avoid listing specific Harford County or state fees in the town schedule and to allow the town to reimburse or pass through those recording fees when they are charged. He gave examples of the county and vendor fees that are sometimes incurred, including a $40 surcharge, a $20 recording fee for documents nine pages or fewer, a $75 fee for 10 pages or more, a $50 lien-sheet fee, and a $4.50 e-recording fee when using a vendor called Simply File.
"By adding these document recording fees into our fee schedule, the town would then be reimbursed or it would be passed through when it's collected back to the county or the state or wherever these fees are charged from," Mr. Krantz said. (Mr. Krantz, board clerk/recorder)
Action: The board voted to receive proposed Resolution 12-51-25 amending the town fee schedule. The motion was moved by Commissioner Chance, seconded by Commissioner Taylor, and the vote was recorded as Rutledge: Aye; Taylor: Aye; Chance: Aye; Chair Eddy: Aye. A public hearing on the fee-schedule amendments was scheduled for May 5.
Why it matters: The changes alter costs charged for development‑related reviews and make the town's fee schedule responsive to county/state recording fees without frequent ordinance updates. The TIA fee changes affect applicants and developers who must submit traffic studies for certain projects.
