Bloomington plan commission preview: 122 houses on north side, 14 condos downtown
Included on Monday’s meeting agenda for Bloomington’s plan commission are two dramatically different requests.
Beacon Builders, LLC is asking for approval to divide about 49 acres on Bloomington’s north side into 122 lots for detached single-family houses. [Updated Oct. 7, 2024: The plan commission approved the preliminary plat on a vote of 6–1. Dissenting was Hopi Stosberg, who did not agree with the waiver of an alley access requirement. Absent were Tim Ballard and Ellen Rodkey.]
Another request on Monday’s agenda is from Randy Lloyd’s Clearpath Services, for site plan approval of a 5-story building in downtown Bloomington on Kirkwood Avenue that will include 14 residential condos and space for a new restaurant to be operated by the current owners of the Uptown Café.
In connection with its condo project, Clearpath got approval of a height variance in late August. [Updated Oct. 7, 2024: The 5-story condo project was approved on a 6–0 vote. Absent were Ballard, Rodkey. Recusing himself was Chris Cockerham.]
122 new houses
The 49 acres where Beacon Builders is looking to build 122 detached single-family houses is generally northwest of the city’s Cascade Golf courses and north of Bloomington High School North. It’s situated on the north side of Acuff Road and west of Kinser Pike.
The land is zoned as R2 (residential medium lot), which means that detached single-family housing would be allowable use.
What Beacon Builders wants—in addition to the division of the land into 122 lots with nine common areas—is a waiver from two requirements related to that division.
One waiver, which Bloomington’s planning staff is recommending for approval, says that streets can’t have blocks longer than 800 feet. There’s one section of road that is proposed to be 987 feet long, and another one that is 1,600 feet long.
But the planning staff’s conclusion is that “These sections of road that exceed the maximum 800-foot block length are not detrimental to the public safety, health, or general welfare, or injurious to other property.”
The other waiver, which Bloomington’s planning staff is recommending that the plan commission deny, says that two-thirds (67 percent) of the lots have to be accessible by an alley. In the Beacon Builders proposal, only 59 percent of the lots can be accessed with an alley.
The planning staff’s conclusion about the request for a waiver from the 67-percent alley access requirement is that having just 59 percent of lots accessed with any alley doesn’t appear to have “detrimental impacts on public safety, health, or general welfare, or be injurious to other property.” Still, the planning staff think that it would be possible to include an alley along the north side of an eight-lot stretch, which would hit the 67-percent requirement.
The Beacon Builders proposal is up for its second hearing on Monday (Oct. 7), after having its first one on Aug. 12.
Since the first hearing, there have not been any changes in the basic site plan and lot configuration.
But in order to respond to concerns from the public and plan commissioners at the first hearing, a revised traffic study has been submitted with current counts. The traffic study submitted with the initial proposal was done when Indiana University and MCCSC were not in session.
14 residential condos, 1 restaurant
Also on the Monday, Oct. 7 agenda for Bloomington’s plan commission is site plan approval for a proposal from Randy Lloyd’s Clearpath Services for a 5-story building in downtown Bloomington on Kirkwood Avenue.
The project will include 14 residential condos and space for a new restaurant to be operated by the current owners of the Uptown Café.
The basement level will include 26 parking spaces. The 14 residential condominium units will include nine 2-bedroom units and five 3-bedroom units, which are supposed to be for owner occupants. That’s a total of 33 bedrooms.
Clearpath is taking advantage of both the affordable housing (payment-in-lieu) and sustainable development incentives to get the project to an allowable height of 64 feet. But the building is designed to be 70.5 feet tall. That’s why a height variance was needed from the board of zoning appeals (BZA), which was granted in late August.
The payment-in-lieu option for the affordable housing incentive works out to a payment of $99,000. The math on that is: $20,000 each, for 15 percent of the 33 total bedrooms proposed. (20000*.15*33)
The planning staff recommendation for the Clearpath site plan is for the plan commission to approve it.
