Bellaire officials approve building townhomes inside new zoning district

Bellaire officials voted unanimously Nov. 18 to allow the building of townhomes or small attached units inside a new zoning district.

The full story

Bellaire City Council and the Planning and Zoning Commission have been engaged in discussion since July on amending an ordinance in the zoning regulations to create a new R-6 Small-Lot Residential Attached District.

According to NYC Planning, the department of planning for New York, a R-6 small-lot residential attached district refers to a zoning designation that allows for high-density residential developments with primarily attached housing units, such as a townhomes, on relatively small lots.

The topic was first discussed in July with three suggested amendments, including:

• Adding the definition of a townhouse dwelling
• Creating a new small-lot residential attached district to encompass the provisions for townhomes
• Changing the minimum site area per dwelling unit in the multi-family district from 1,200 square feet to 2,178 square feet

However, changes to the multi-family district were removed from the proposed ordinance.

Other changes to the ordinance since the July 15 meeting included adding clarifying language and increasing the density and height for the townhome development district.

Quote of note

Council member Brian Witt during the Nov. 18 meeting said that he believes the approval is an important step towards Bellaire having a diversity of housing stock.

“When you have different properties with smaller sizes, you give people a choice,” he said. “We all have opinions, but our job is to give people the opportunity to choose what they want. In creating these districts, we are creating different opportunities and while this may not be what every person wants, there is a segment that may want that closer community.”