The Town of Bel Air Planning Commission spent substantial time Dec. 4 discussing a proposed amendment to Chapter 165 that would change how the town manages off-site parking: limiting or eliminating long-term (15-year) leases of town-controlled spaces to developers and revising fee-in-lieu rules that let developers pay instead of providing on-site parking.

Steve Chismar (named on the record) and staff said the parking fund is drawing on reserves and the town budgeted about $140,000 from reserves for the parking fund in fiscal year 2026. Chismar warned that long-term leases can "subsidize parking for the project" by encumbering town parking resources for many years and limiting the town's ability to sell or redeploy lots. "By doing the long term leasing, it's kind of like subsidizing parking for the project," Chismar said.

Other commissioners pointed to predictable monthly lease revenue as a benefit: one commissioner noted that a steady lease payment provides budgetable revenue compared with a one-time fee. The commission considered compromises including shorter renewable terms (for example, five-year leases with renewals), escalator clauses tied to garage occupancy, grandfathering existing approvals (such as Hickory Flats), tying fee-in-lieu to market or property values instead of a fixed amount, and expanding allowable uses of the parking-fund fee-in-lieu to maintenance and operations rather than strictly expansion.

Staff said current fee-in-lieu rules allow payment of $4,000 per required parking space (and that the town must spend fee-in-lieu money within 10 years and currently can only use it to expand parking within 500 feet). Commissioners asked staff for financial detail from Finance Director Lisa Moody and for ordinance language options that would permit the Board of Town Commissioners greater latitude to use parking funds for maintenance and to vary lease and fee terms based on supply and demand.

A motion carried for the commission to express support for staff to investigate and for the Town Board to consider actions that would improve the parking fund's financial standing by revising long-term leasing and fee-in-lieu rules and allowing broader use of parking fund revenues. The commission did not adopt a specific ordinance but requested further study, financial analyses and draft code language for future consideration.

Next steps: staff and finance will prepare fiscal analyses and draft ordinance options for the commission and the Town Board; commissioners signaled a preference to refine lease length and fee formulas to balance revenue needs against long-term constraints on parking supply.