Bel Air Planning Commission recommends DRRA enabling ordinance, developers say tool would aid Hartford Mall redevelopment

The Bel Air Planning Commission on Monday voted unanimously to recommend the Town Board adopt Ordinance 858-26, which would authorize the town to enter into Development Rights and Responsibilities Agreements (DRRAs) under Maryland’s land‑use law.

Town Attorney Elizabeth Thompson summarized the ordinance as a mechanism that allows municipalities to grant early vesting to developers in exchange for enhanced public benefits (exactions) documented in a recorded agreement. Thompson said DRRAs are time‑limited (commonly five years), require public hearings, staff review and a finding of consistency with the comprehensive plan by the Planning Commission, and that the Board of Town Commissioners is the final approver.

Developers and counsel who spoke during public comment said DRRAs are particularly helpful for complex, phased projects. Christopher Mudd of Venable LLP told commissioners DRRAs are a public, recorded contractual tool used in jurisdictions across Maryland and yield certainty for lenders and developers. Matt Robinson of SJC Ventures and John Michelle of CBL Properties — the mall owner — said a DRRA would allow interior demolition and sequencing of phases while protecting the town’s interest in replacing retail and ensuring consistency with approvals. A residential representative said DRRAs can memorialize off‑site public benefits such as stormwater improvements.

Commissioners asked detailed questions about process and safeguards: when a DRRA is submitted relative to plan approvals, how staff reports and public hearings are handled, what kinds of enhanced public benefits may be requested, whether agreements bind successors, and how vesting interacts with the town’s mixed‑use 50% retail threshold. Thompson and planning staff said DRRAs bind the land and successor owners when recorded in land records, that benefits can be on‑site or off‑site but must be in town, and that the commission and ultimately the Town Board would evaluate consistency with the comprehensive plan.

After the public‑comment period and Q&A, the Planning Commission voted to forward a memorandum recommending approval of Ordinance 858-26 to the Town Board.

Next steps: staff said the commission will prepare a short memorandum summarizing the discussion and that the Board of Town Commissioners is scheduled to consider related items at its next meeting.