LIVE from Town Hall: Fortune-Telling Legal in Bel Air

7:58 p.m. The meeting has been adjourned.

Commissioner Robert Preston recognized the Upper Chesapeake Chorus for winning a championship in Ocean City recently.

7:56 p.m. The Board of Commissioners has approved the ordinance that updates the definition of fortune-telling and designates acceptable zones for the practice to take place by a vote of 4–1. Terence Hanley voted against the measure.

7:55 p.m. The Board of Commissioners has approved the repeal of banning fortune-telling in town by a vote of 4–1. Terence Hanley voted against the measure.

7:53 p.m. Johnson has brought a “chart” of what she does and said there is a price chart for her services on her desk and wall and that she went to school for her business. She also asked to remain at her existing location.

7:51 p.m. Town citizen French Poole is speaking again. He said it is not fair to charge for fortune-telling when psychiatrists and psychologists have to go to college and get degrees to charge people for help.

Town counsel Charlie Keenan explained to Poole that the town's hands are tied by the state court of appeals opinion and that the commissioners must follow the decision.

"They offered their opinion and I offered mine. Only their opinion overrides mine," Poole said. "If it's for profit, that's fine, but they need to be regulated."

7:49 p.m. “With those changes, Mrs. Barrington would be considered grandfathered at her current location,” Small said.

Black magic and “cult powers” will not be permitted under this ordinance if approved.

7:46 p.m. The next ordinance, if the first one is passed, will designate where fortune-telling is allowed in town.

Director of Planning Kevin Small said the planning commission recommends fortune-telling businesses be limited to B3 and B3A zones, which are mostly along U.S. Route 1 between Maryland Route 24 and Bond Street.

Businesses must also be at least 1,000 feet from school zones. 

Again, these are public hearings. The votes are coming later.

7:43 p.m. A woman identified as Ms. Johnson, known at her business at Mrs. Barrington of is now speaking in favor of fortune-telling.

“It’s very unfortunate what happened to Mr. Poole and his brother years ago and I feel for him. But in any profession there’s good and bad. And unfortunately he went to someone who’s not good,” Ms. Johnson said. “I’ve been in business here for many years … doing Tarot Card readings.”

She asked that her property be grandfathered into allowable fortune-telling locations since she has been at 104 South Main Street for years.

7:41 p.m. “He did get his life straightened out and he rebuilt, but not with the help of these people,” Poole said. “If you’re going allow this to be done … they have to keep records. They have to abide by rules.”

7:40 p.m. “They drove a wedge between him and me. They told him I was a bad influence on him,” Poole said of his hero. “And he did that because they were going to be his salvation.”

7:37 p.m. Town citizen French Poole is speaking in opposition of allowing fortune-telling in town. He’s discussing a childhood hero of his whose life came “apart” due to fortune-telling. “He had nobody else to turn to,” Poole said. “Each time he stopped, they wanted more money, and he gave it to them.

Poole said the man spent about $12,000 without ever being helped.

"His life just kept deteriorating," he said.

7:35 p.m. The public hearing on potentially repealing the part of town code that forbids fortune-telling is underway. Such practices have been restricted since 1980. For background on the , .

7:33 p.m. Harford Day School eighth-grader Jonathan Duvall is being honored as the Student Achievement Award recipient. Mayor David Carey presented the certificate. Duvall shook the hands of all commissioners and town employees afterward.

7:30 p.m. The meeting is underway with a student recognition and the controversial fortune-telling debate highlighting Monday's public gathering of the Board of Commissioners.