Bel Air reviews HR&A market study; consultants recommend easing parking, land assembly and exploring a special district

Travis Tanner, the city's Director of Development Services, presented the final report from consultant HR&A (under contract since August 2025). Tanner said the report is meant to be a menu of implementation options, not a mandatory checklist, and that staff will bring specific proposals to the FY27 budget process. "Number 1 was easing our parking restrictions," Tanner said, noting Planning & Zoning has already held a public hearing and staff expects to forward market‑driven changes to council.

The consultant identified two other primary strategies: land assembly (including repurposing unused public rights of way to create larger developable parcels) and considering creation of a special district such as a tax increment reinvestment zone, public improvement district or management district. Tanner said the report includes an implementation matrix that divides options into short‑ and long‑term actions and that staff anticipates continuing work with HR&A on implementation priorities during the upcoming budget cycle.

Councilmembers pressed for specifics. Jackie asked how the city should receive and vet developer interest; Tanner suggested structured listening sessions and a citywide approach rather than incentives directed at a single developer. Councilmember Lewis raised concerns about subsidies and cited a Texas Municipal League summary of a Texas Supreme Court decision; the city attorney explained that incentives must be tied to a public benefit such as jobs or infrastructure and that agreements should be legally defensible. Multiple members noted floodplain constraints and infrastructure capacity, and Tanner said FEMA's draft map revisions could remove some parcels from the floodplain but that formal map updates will take years.