Bel Air To Accept Petition For Referendum Until June 11 On Rezoning

BEL AIR, MD — Two weeks after the town of Bel Air rejected a petition from residents over rezoning, officials said they would accept a petition to put the issue to referendum until June 11.

The Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners went into a closed session on Wednesday night to discuss issues including the Bel Air town charter as it applies to elections, voters and referendum.

All five commissioners attended the executive session behind closed doors at Bel Air Town Hall, along with Town Administrator Jesse Bane, Town Clerk Michael Krantz and Recording Secretary Joan Suitt.

Bel Air Patch was the only member of the public in attendance at Town Hall waiting to hear the results of the executive session, which lasted from approximately 7 to 8:45 p.m. (The Bel Air Independence Day Committee met in Town Hall from about 7 to 8 p.m. to discuss plans for next month’s parade and festivities.)

After the commissioners’ executive session, it was determined that a petition for referendum was still feasible.

The town code says a petition for referendum can be filed until 41 days after an ordinance passed. On May 2, the town commissioners passed the ordinance allowing for rezoning of 13 properties.

“I have been advised by the Bel Air Board of Town Commissioners that they will accept a petition for referendum, meeting the requirements of Section 504.Referendum, of the Bel Air Town Charter, if submitted to the Bel Air Police Department, Dispatcher window, at 39 N. Hickory Avenue, Bel Air, Maryland, by June 11, 2022, on or before 11:59 p.m.,” Town Clerk Michael L. Krantz said in a statement after the executive session. That is 41 days since May 2.

More than 1,000 Bel Air residents signed a petition protesting the rezoning of seven properties on East Broadway and East Gordon Street, which they submitted May 23.

On May 25, Bel Air's Board of Election Judges deemed the petition invalid since it did not say it was a petition nor did it contest the entire rezoning ordinance, which included 13 properties. Instead, it focused on seven properties that were rezoned from residential to a general business gateway district.

"This rezoning decision has the capacity to greatly damage the small-town charm of Bel Air," Bart Bodt, who helped circulate the petition, said at the Town Hall meeting on Monday, June 6. "We don't want a mini Towson, and that's what we're driving towards."

See Also:

• Bel Air Petition Gets 1,051 Signatures For Referendum; Town Rejects It
• Bel Air Petition Sparks Election Board Meeting
• ShopRite Owners 'Want To Work Directly With Community' On Remodel Plan