A Public Hearing Before City Council For The Closure Of A Portion Of Mapleridge
Has Been Scheduled At City Hall on Monday, March 6, 2023 @ 6 PM
UPDATE 4/4/2023: The applicant requested a delay on their application and staff issued a new deadline. The deadline has passed and the application will no longer be considered by City Council. That portion of Mapleridge will remain open.
A Public Hearing before City Council is scheduled for March 6, 2023. Find the petition here. Find the Agenda packet here.
This application is tied to the proposed redevelopment plans for the 60 year old retail 
center located on 4 acres along the 5300-5400 blocks of Bellaire Blvd. The owners request that the City of Bellaire abandon Mapleridge between Bellaire Blvd and Bissonnet for potential parking spaces. The price offered in the petition for the .38 acre of land is $1.00.
The current owners of the center are FKM Partnership, Ltd., Luel Partnership, Ltd., and EKG Partners, LLC. The orange strip in the media at right is the portion of Mapleridge that the center owners propose be abandoned.
Many Bellaire residents and visitors use this portion of Mapleridge to move between Bellaire Blvd and Bissonnet, heading north to the Post Office or south to Bellaire neighborhoods. The alternate routes are limited, including cutting through parking lots, U-turns, or using Chimney Rock.
If approved this application could lead to more than the loss of a street. It would provide a contiguous parcel of land that could be completely redeveloped. That land is in the CMU, the Corridor Mixed Use District, which allows multi-story mixed-use and multi-family such as apartments and condos up to 5-stories, even more in a Planned Development with approval of a Specific Use Permit.
Please, let the Mayor and members of City Council know how you feel about losing this section of Mapleridge. You can speak at the Public Hearing or email Council. Your opinion matters.
Please email comments, concerns, or questions to the Mayor and members of City Council via our City Clerk, Tracy Dutton, at tdutton@bellairetx.gov and request that your email be forwarded to the Mayor and Council.
My letter sent 3/5/2023:
Dear Mayor and members of Bellaire City Council,
Please do not allow any portion of Mapleridge St to be closed or abandoned. Mapleridge is more than an important route for anyone traveling to or from the Post Office. It is the only remaining through-street in a major portion of Bellaire between South Rice Avenue and Chimney Rock. Many Bellaire residents would be greatly inconvenienced if it were abandoned.
I often run by the Post Office to drop off mail, then head south on Mapleridge to Bissonnet and turn right on my way to Capital One Bank. Without Mapleridge my alternative routes from the Post Office would be:
(1) a right turn onto Bellaire Blvd, then a left turn through the esplanade into the retail center parking lot, maneuver through the lot (illegally, I believe) until I could exit on Bissonnet. Or
(2) make that right turn onto Bellaire Blvd and travel west to Chimney Rock. Turn left at Chimney Rock, travel south to the light at Bissonnet, travel through that light to Jessamine, U-turn and travel north back down Chimney Rock to access the entrance to the bank.
Those solutions are either illegal or wasteful. No matter, these routes are not necessary now and I don’t believe they should be necessary in the future. It’s certainly not in the best interest of the public, and no matter what the latest valuation shows, to me it’s priceless. When you have a say on this application please, just say no.
Thank you,
Jane McNeel
5112 Locust St.
Please email comments, concerns, or questions to the Mayor and members of City Council via our City Clerk, Tracy Dutton, at tdutton@bellairetx.gov and request that your email be forwarded to the Mayor and Council.
PART II – CODE OF ORDINANCES Chapter 27 – STREETS, SIDEWALKS AND PUBLIC PLACES ARTICLE VI. SALE AND ABANDONMENT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY
Sec. 27–101. Policy.
No street, easement, alley, or other public way, or portion thereof, shall ever be closed, narrowed, vacated, leased, sold or otherwise conveyed by the City of Bellaire, if doing so would result in a violation of or be in conflict with the City of Bellaire’s land development codes, or otherwise be contrary to the best interest of the public, considering all reasonable future use of such street, easement, alley, or other public way.
Construction on the new Bellaire High school is complete. The original building was demolished during the week of July 13-17, 2021. 
FEMA imposes requirements for new structures and limits on existing structures in flood zones. Check with Development Services for more information,
