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A handful of residents came out this week to give feedback about Bellaire’s proposed Comprehensive Plan, which sets a “vision” and specific guidelines to shape the city’s future look and feel.

The city hosted a public hearing about the plan on Monday. Residents still have time to submit written comments before the city council early next week discusses changes based on resident feedback.

This sketch shows a "vision" for future development near Westpark and Loop 610, an area targeted for a future light rail station. The Comprehensive Plan calls for this area, as well as Bellaire's downtown, to transform into pedestrian-friendly shopping and restaurant "villages."

The Comprehensive Plan has been in development for years. The Bellaire Planning and Zoning Commission developed it based on input from a citizen’s advisory committee and planners from the Kendig Keast Collaborative.

Bruce Volkert was the person who first pushed for revisions while serving on the Planning and Zoning Commission. At Monday’s public hearing, Volkert asked members of the Bellaire City Council, when they finally vote on the Comprehensive Plan, not to get bogged down on specific details. Instead, Volkert said, the council should remember the plan only creates “guidelines” for future growth that are not written in stone.

“It is a guideline, a roadmap,” Volkert said. “Do you agree with the goals, do you agree with the basic strategies that are in there?”

There are several elements of the Comprehensive Plan that threaten to bog down discussions.

The plan calls for more diverse housing options, such as condos and town homes, so young couples and older residents can still afford to live in Bellaire. But some people envision apartments that will mar Bellaire’s image as the “City of Homes.”

“I think the market realities of Bellaire, now and going forward, will make it hard for that type of development to emerge,” said Gary Mitchell, vice president of Kendig Keast Collaborative. He said the city could create design requirements like height limits that would make it difficult to construct apartments.

Bellaire resident and activist Lynn McBee raised concerns with six areas of the plan, including setting height limits for new construction.

McBee said the height limit should be six stories, “stated clearly so no one with a planned development can come along and say ‘just us, higher’.”

Mitchell said tall buildings could only go in designated commercial areas: downtown Bellaire, and the industrial district near Westpark and Loop 610, which has been targeted for a future light rail station. Buildings could be up to six stories in the center, but only two-to-three stories on the edges adjacent to residential neighborhoods. The plan envisions these areas transforming into pedestrian-friendly shopping and restaurant “villages” that will attract Bellaire residents.

Making Bellaire friendly to pedestrians was one concern raised by resident Sam Lott at Monday’s public hearing. Lott, a consultant in the transportation industry, said he wants existing pedestrian trails on Newcastle Drive and parts of Bellaire Boulevard to extend uninterrupted all the way to mass transit stations.

“That connectivity that will be most practical will be for the pedestrian and those who want to ride bicycles,” Lott said.

Mitchell said that while the Comprehensive Plan creates a vision for the two development areas, the city would still have to work hard to create the ordinances and regulations that would create the desired outcome. Even then, success would be partly up to chance.

“At some point it is up to the market, though, if that’s the area they want to visit,” Mitchell said. “There’s a number of factors that look very positive for development in the city.”

The city council will meet on Monday and Tuesday with the Planning and Zoning Commission to consider changing the Comprehensive Plan based on resident feedback. Residents can still send written comments to City Clerk Tracy Dutton before Thursday at noon. Her email address is tdutton [at] ci.bellaire.tx.us.