Take a look at what projects and ordinances were approved or changed in Bellaire during 2024, along with a glimpse of what's planned for the year ahead.

FY 2024-25 budget

Bellaire adopted a $28 million budget for fiscal year 2024-25 on Aug. 19, with a large portion of the budget aimed at funding items for public safety initiatives like police and emergency medical services:

• New ambulance: $364,000
• Four marked patrol cars: $353,000
• Three new police officers: $318,000
• Crime victim specialist: $23,000
• Four flock safety cameras: $14,600
• Gear for officers: $10,800

The focus on public safety came from Bellaire residents calling for additional police visibility in the community for the past few years believing there to be a rise in crime in the city, Bellaire Police Chief Onesimo Lopez explained during a Aug. 19 City Council meeting.

While he said he doesn’t believe there has been a surge in crime, according to the police department’s year-in-review reports, there has been an uptick in calls for service since 2019. Response times have also increased.

Community Impact previously reported that the average response time in 2021 was two and a half minutes, according to police reports. In mid-2023, it grew to between four and five minutes, where it has remained since. Lopez said he would like to see that average response time reduced to two and a half minutes with the arrival of the new hires. Emergency medical services will also see a boost in personnel with a handful of part-time paramedics added in the budget to staff a second primary ambulance.

Additional tree protectionBellaire made several amendments to the city's code of ordinances to enhance tree protection. The new ordinance eliminates a previous permit loophole and includes additional changes, such as:

• Clearly defining protected trees and unprotected trees
• Not requiring a permit to remove an unprotected tree
• Requiring a permit to remove a single protected tree
• Requiring a tree survey and disposition plan for projects in which multiple protected trees are affected
• Requiring that protected trees be preserved or replaced on-site or within 1,000 inches if they must be removed due to construction
• Allowing for payment of a fee in lieu of meeting the above requirement to replace a protected tree

Council members also approved the proposed Criteria Manual for Urban Forest, which is a technical guide created to facilitate the planning, design, installation and maintenance of landscaping that is required for new development and redevelopment.

Criteria Manual for Urban Forest:

• Tree survey standards
• 10 different criteria for tree evaluation
• Mitigative measures and replacement protocols based on the criteria rating of existing trees
• Diameter requirements for replacement trees based on the criteria rating or a fee equivalent to replacement based on those diameter requirements

Implementation of a stormwater drainage utility fee

Bellaire homeowners started receiving a $6 stormwater drainage utility fee on their bills Oct. 1 after Bellaire City Council voted unanimously Sept. 16 to establish a new utility charge that will help generate revenue for drainage and infrastructure projects.

The fee structure follows a phase-in approach where charges gradually increase yearly until it reaches a peak in five years, so residential property owners will see a steady $0.50 increase until it caps out at $8.25 in FY 2029-30.

The fee for nonresidential property owners will be based on a seven-tier system that factors in the amount of square footage of impervious surface area at each property.

Nonresidential owners will still see a gradual increase every year until their subsequent cap is also met in FY 2029-30. For example, an owner with a business with between 5,001-10,000 square feet of impervious surface area will start out paying $12 in FY 2024-25 and will see a $1 increase every year until it caps out at $16.50 in FY 2029-30.

Stormwater and wastewater projectsResidents of Bellaire voted to approve a $70 million bond that will help fund stormwater and wastewater projects. A $40 million bond will go towards stormwater improvement projects such as:

• Cypress Ditch widening: $90 million total cost
• Property acquisition: $8 million total cost
• Detention construction: $12 million total cost

A $30 million bond will go towards wastewater projects such as:

• Decommissions and demolishes Bellaire wastewater treatment plant
• Redirects Bellaire’s wastewater to City of Houston wastewater treatment plant
• Relocates and replaces Bellaire lift station
• Supports Cypress Ditch drainage improvements by repurposing city land for stormwater detention and added greenspace.

However, residents voiced concerns with the city decommissioning the wastewater treatment plant and connecting to the city of Houston's, as they worry the plan could be expensive for the city in the future.

City Manager Sharon Citino said there is currently no date on when City Council will decide what to do with the wastewater treatment plant.

Zoning ordinance changes

Bellaire officials voted unanimously on Nov. 18 to create a new zoning district that will allow townhomes—a multi-story house in a modern housing development that is attached to one or more similar houses by shared walls—to be built in Bellaire.

The topic was first discussed in 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 townhomes, on relatively small lots.

Amendments were made since the discussion in July:

• 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

New commercial developmentA six-story commercial development and office building will be built at the southwest corner of Bissonnet Street and West Loop 610, primarily offering medical services. The development will also have a ground floor lobby with potential for retail or restaurant space. Bellaire officials gave the green light Oct. 7.

There were nine conditions attached with the ordinance. Among other requirements, the developer agreed to:

• Have beautification elements such as screening for the parking garage
• Meet and exceed the number of off-street parking spaces
• Comply with the city’s tree ordinances

Traffic changesBellaire officials voted unanimously Oct. 7 to install "no right turn on red" signs near Evelyn's Conservancy Park on the intersections of Bellaire Boulevard and Newcastle Drive as a way to increase pedestrian safety, and reduce the likelihood of conflicts between right-turning vehicles and pedestrians in crosswalks.

According to the ordinance document, there has been one pedestrian-involved crash at the intersection since 2019, with the driver at fault for failure to yield the right-of-way to the pedestrian.

However, many residents expressed their disapproval of the signs, saying that since the installation of these signs, traffic has increased.

This has led Bellaire to conduct a traffic study in January. Bellaire Public Works Director Mark Velasquez said performing the traffic study will cost $9,800. Quiddity Engineering, the city's traffic engineer, recommended the traffic study be conducted in January, after the holidays and when school is back in session so that typical traffic patterns occur.

City Council also voted to approve the delay and remove the enforcement of the signs until after the traffic study is done.

New Public Works facilityIn December, Bellaire officials began first steps in purchasing a new Public Works facility after years without a permanent administrative building. Bellaire City Manager Sharon Citino explained in a presentation to City Council on Dec. 16 that the city’s Public Works facility has been without a permanent administrative building since 2015 when the 4337 Edith St. location was flooded during the 2015 Memorial Day flood and damaged beyond repair.

After operating for seven years from a temporary construction trailer and makeshift offices in the wastewater treatment plant, Public Works personnel were relocated to a leased facility at 5808 S. Rice Ave. in November 2023. That lease expires in November 2028.

Citino and city staff recommended Bellaire City Council to purchase a property at 5235 Glenmont Drive. They found that the property met the right criteria:

• It’s close to Bellaire.
• It's not in the floodplain, meaning it's not susceptible to flooding events.
• It has space for parking and a laydown yard where tools and equipment can be stored when not in use.

Citino said the project will cost $14.7 million, with $7 million going into purchasing the property, $7,000 for the design phase and the other $7 million for construction.

The timeline includes the first payment to be made March 28 to purchase the property. The design phase would start in May 2025 with construction anticipated to start in August 2026.