Klein’s ShopRite is a locally owned family business that has proudly served Harford County for decades. We pride ourselves on delivering the best customer experience and products for the communities we serve. For us to meet the demands of our many thousands of customers, we feel strongly, as do they, that we need to invest in renovating and expanding the ShopRite of Bel Air store on Main Street. To accomplish this, we need to develop more of our property at that location and incorporate an adjacent property into the store plan. Our customers have been asking us for years to update this store to meet their needs and the needs of the overall community. While we love our current Main Street store, it is an old and antiquated building, unable to meet the needs of our customers. Without this remodel the viability of the store comes into question.
To accomplish this objective and to make this store the community asset that the town of Bel Air deserves, we needed to engage the town to rezone some of our properties on Broadway. We did this according to both the letter and the spirit of all applicable local laws. These properties were approved with seven other properties in the town’s 2022 comprehensive zoning bill. All our properties are fully in line with the town’s adopted 2022 Comprehensive Plan and were designated for future mixed office and residential use before we submitted our request. We support the overwhelming majority decision of the town commissioners to approve the new comprehensive plan. A potential rejection of the approved rezoning legislation represents an all or nothing scenario – the only way we can execute the planned expansion and update of the Main Street store is with the current approved bill.
As part of our plan to remodel the ShopRite on Main Street, customers and other businesses have already been approaching us to express their desire for more housing and modern office space within the town of Bel Air. This rezoning allows us to deliver a first-class mixed-use development that gives families and local businesses the opportunity to join or stay in our beloved community. We intend to uphold the highest architectural standards that represent an outstanding residential neighborhood and complement the planned renovations of the supermarket with attractive, modern finishes. We also intend to seek considerable community input in this process. The town code is explicit in that landscaping and lighting standards meet strictly established criteria. Please keep in mind that we are your decades long friends and neighbors – not some out of town interloper developer. Our history as active owners of all of our properties reflects our family’s commitment as good citizens and neighbors.
Harford County is our home and as its heart Bel Air is very important to us. We want to work directly with the community and encourage input on planning and design prior to moving forward with any plan. Our family loves this town and our county. We contribute our time, talent, and resources to local charities and important causes and will continue to do so. We see our neighbors as our partners in this project and look forward to working together to bring a significant benefit to the town of Bel Air. This investment represents our commitment to make Bel Air the best place to shop, live and work in Harford County. We hope you agree and will continue to support us moving forward.
Best to all our friends and neighbors,
The Klein Family
