Wanted: Homeless Artists

Bel Air is one step away from holding a distinction that only 18 other towns in Maryland can boast.

Thanks to unanimous approval by the Board of Commissioners at Tuesday's town meeting, Director of Economic Development Trish Heidenrich has permission to submit an application that would make part of the town a designated "arts and entertainment district."

"I am excited; they understand the benefits involved," Heidenrich said. "They're well-informed and I'm pleased they've decided to go ahead and approved the resolution."

If the measure is approved nothing would physically change in Bel Air. Instead, a 98-acre district would be established that grants artists multiple tax benefits for living and working in town.

First, though, the Maryland State Arts Council must approve the application, which is due Oct. 1.

"It's in the home stretch," Heidenrich said of the application. "Hopefully … it will be given serious consideration."

Harford County Cultural Arts Board Coordinator Natalie Weeks was the only citizen to speak at the meeting's public hearing.

"I'm here in 100 percent support of an arts and entertainment (district) for the town of Bel Air," Weeks said. "I think we've been working for many years in that direction and this will just be the frosting on the cake."

Heidenrich also reinforced the potential benefits of the state's approval.

"The arts and entertainment district is a state designation and basically it entitles … you to some tax benefits [for qualifying artists]," Heidenrich said.

The three benefits are a property tax credit that lasts a maximum of 10 years, an income tax reduction and exemption from admission and amusement taxes.

The idea is to make a Bel Air a more attractive location for artists, said Director of Planning Carol Deibel.

"We're also hoping to bring artists into some of the vacant properties that we currently have," Deibel said.

One of the questions raised by the commissioners before the vote came from Chair David Carey, who asked how the district's existence would be marketed if approved.

"If no one knows about it then it's a failure," Heidenrich acknowledged. "One of the requirements is having an advisory board telling us how to market it properly."

Potential members of the advisory board could include someone from Harford Community College as well as a member of the county's Cultural Arts Board.

Heidenrich added that it is likely to take two or three months for the arts council to review the town's application once it is submitted.

It would not, however, be the first town in Harford County to be designated as an arts and entertainment district—that honor belongs to Havre de Grace.

The Bel Air overlay district would include portions of Main and Bond streets as well as some housing toward Howard Park, Heidenrich said.

Some of the more successful districts in the state are in Easton and Silver Spring, Heidenrich said. She and Deibel also visited districts in Elkton, Hagerstown and Rising Sun.