As a condition of its approved 2021-2029 Housing Element, the City of Bell is implementing new zoning rules through its main commercial corridor in a bid to foster the development of new housing.

The New Bell District Specific Plan, as the project is known, includes approximately 84.3 acres of land area located at the center of Bell, mostly along Atlantic Avenue and East Gate Avenue. The city expects the plan to facilitate the construction of 584 new homes over a 15-year period ending in 2040.

Included within the specific plan area are 24 opportunity sites, accounting for 16.3 acres and 49 parcels of land. Existing uses - including 133,000 square feet of commercial space, 35,000 square feet of vacant buildings, 20 hotel rooms, and 13 homes - could be razed to realize the development potential enabled by the specific plan. However, no projects are proposed at this point in time.

Zoning regulations would permit buildings of four and five stories in height, including mixed-use structures with ground-floor commercial space.

Other provisions of the specific plan envision the redevelopment of existing commercial buildings into park spaces, the closure of streets to create public plazas, adding linear park spaces, and other various streetscape improvements to Atlantic and Gage.

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