Permit Parking Zone Lifted In Homestead Village

Bel Air officials voted Monday to lift preferred parking zones in the Homestead Village development located off Maryland Route 924.

The permit parking areas were originally designed to prevent Bel Air High School students from occupying residential spaces when there was no room on the school lot.

The new school building and accompanying lot, however, "all but eliminated the need for off site parking," Town Planner Kevin Small said during a public hearing Monday.

Small said most residents in the area agreed that there was no longer a need for the restriction. During a public hearing on the proposed legislation that would effectively lift the permit parking zones, one person spoke.

"We love the idea, we hate the signs, and we’re very happy you’re doing this," Toby Musser of South Shamrock Road said.

Musser appeared on behalf of his neighborhood.

The board voted unanimously to approve legislation lifting the permit parking zones in the following areas: east and west sides of Hunter Drive from Linwood Avenue to South Shamrock Road; the north and south sides of the 300 block of Linwood Avenue from Giles Street to South Shamrock; the east and west sides of the 400 block of Linwood Avenue from South Shamrock Road to Linwood Garth; the east and west sides of Linwood Court; the north and south sides of South Shamrock Road for several hundred feet south of the intersection with Linwood Avenue.

Permit parking zones will remain on Idlewild Road and several other streets near the school.