Bel Air planners back mixed-use code changes, narrow shared-parking rule

The Bel Air Planning Commission on Wednesday recommended that the Town Board consider amendments to the town code that would formalize a 50% commercial threshold for mixed‑use developments and revise related performance standards and guidelines.

The recommendation came after a staff presentation and extensive commissioner discussion about Hartford Mall and other large mixed‑use proposals. Staff said the code change would require that more than half of the underlying comprehensive‑plan land‑use designation for a mixed‑use project be commercial in order for the development to qualify as mixed use.

Kevin (planning staff) told the commission the 50% test is intended to prevent projects in areas designated commercial under the comprehensive plan from becoming all residential. He also described three clarifications to the mixed‑use rules: moving the mixed‑use entry in the permitted‑use tables to better align designations; updating performance standards; and expressly allowing shared‑parking arrangements as part of mixed use.

Commissioners debated security and practical effects of fully shared parking. Don (commissioner) said he had security concerns about allowing residential garage parking to be used “for commercial purposes.” Cal (commissioner) and others asked how shared‑parking agreements would be enforced if property ownership changed. Staff explained development and parking agreements would be recorded in land records, bind successors and include the town as a party so amendments would require town notice and, in many cases, return to the planning commission.

Steve (staff member) and Kevin described how putting a shared‑parking requirement in the code would eliminate the need for case‑by‑case shared‑parking agreements currently negotiated with large projects such as Hartford Mall. Kevin told the commission, “One change is to require that they share the parking amongst all the parking spots.”

After discussion, the commission voted to recommend the ordinance to the Town Board with a specific edit: change the shared‑parking requirement from a mandatory “must” to language making it discretionary for the Planning Commission (phrased as “may, at the discretion of the Planning Commission”). That amendment was intended to allow case‑by‑case treatment for projects whose scale or configuration makes full sharing impractical.

The recommended changes also clarify where mixed‑use performance standards appear in the code, explicitly allow shared parking to reduce total required spaces when appropriate, and add a set of guidelines that would require applicants seeking a reduction below the 50% threshold to supply more detailed landscaping, architectural elevations, public‑amenity commitments and other design materials.

Commissioners and staff emphasized that the amendments are intended to codify review expectations and reduce repeated ad hoc negotiations, while preserving the Planning Commission’s ability to grant exceptions in specific cases.

The recommendation will be forwarded to the Town Board for action.

Ending: The Planning Commission’s recommendation formalizes a higher‑level definition of mixed use and narrows how shared parking is applied. The Town Board will consider the proposed ordinance and the Planning Commission’s requested language change at a future meeting.