A parking lease agreement between the Town of Bel Air and a new, 87-unit apartment complex is at the center of a lawsuit Harford County launched against the town last month. The county claims the agreement breaches a contract between Bel Air and the county government.
Harford County and the Town of Bel Air entered into a joint use lease agreement for the Bel Air Parking Garage in May 2006 that grants the county 67% ownership of the garage and gives the Town of Bel Air 33% ownership.
In August 2023, Bel Air’s Town Administrator Edward Hopkins entered the town into a 15-year lease agreement with the developers of an apartment complex, Hickory Flats. The lease agreement allowed Hickory Flats’ residents to use 70 of the town’s 334 parking spaces in the Bel Air Garage for a fee of $35 per month, or about $29,400 a year.
Development for a four-story, 87-unit apartment complex at 28 N. Hickory Avenue in Bel Air, as seen in February. (Jeffrey F. Bill/Staff)Without the satellite parking agreement between the town and Hickory Flats, the four-story, 87-unit apartment complex in Downtown Bel Air would have had to reduce the number of units since, at the time, development density in Bel Air was regulated by the number of parking spaces a development could secure.
According to court documents, Harford County claims they were not informed of the agreement Hopkins entered, which means the lease agreement was not approved by the county — violating the terms of the 2006 joint agreement between Bel Air and Harford County.
The county claims the parking agreement between Bel Air and Hickory Flats is null and void due to not having written approval by the county. Furthermore, Harford County says Hopkins was not “legally authorized” to consummate the parking agreement since findings by the town’s planning commission regarding the agreement were not presented to, or approved by, the town commissioners, per the town charter.
Harford County claims Bel Air breached the 2006 contract and requests that the court rule the 2023 agreement between Bel Air and Hickory Flats is null and void and rule that the town is required to obtain the county’s proper written authorization in order to enter into any agreement pertaining to the parking garage.
Hickory Flats, located in Bel Air’s downtown on North Hickory Avenue, was approved by the Bel Air Planning Commission in 2022 and has been the source of controversy in the town as the development nearly triples the number of units per acre located in some of Bel Air’s highest-density neighborhoods.
Citing the high number of units per acre with Hickory Flats, Bel Air Mayor Paula Etting said the town saw a need to outline density provisions to avoid exceedingly high-density residential projects from potentially disrupting downtown.
The new ordinance set density provisions of:
- A maximum of five single-family detached dwellings per acre
- A maximum of 14 townhomes per acre
- A maximum of 10 semi-detached dwellings per acre
- A maximum of 10 duplex homes per acre
- A maximum of 20 apartment units per acre
Much of the conversation around the new ordinance involved questions about whether the town should allow Hickory Flats to continue as planned, or force developers to comply with the new provision.
Per state law, if a project has completed “substantial construction,” it is considered “vested” and new ordinances do not apply. Since Hickory Flats was considered “vested,” the development was able to proceed as planned.
If the new ordinance applied, Hickory Flats would have had to reduce its number of apartment units by about half.
It is unclear what will happen to Hickory Flats at this time as the county’s lawsuit is still ongoing. Hearing dates for the case have not been set.
Attorneys listed for Hickory Flats or Bel Air did not respond to a request for comment.
Have a news tip? Contact Matt Hubbard at mhubbard@baltsun.com, 443-651-0101 or @mthubb on X.
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