Tag: housing

County commissioner candidates Peter Iversen, Julie Thomas field questions on new jail, housing

On Saturday afternoon, a total of five candidates in two different Democratic Party primary races for county commissioner fielded questions at a forum hosted by League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County.

The forum took place in the auditorium of the downtown Bloomington location of the Monroe County Public Library.

In one race, incumbent Julie Thomas is competing with Peter Iversen for the party’s nomination. Iversen currently serves on the county council.

In the other race, incumbent Penny Githens is competing for the nomination with Jody Madeira, an Indiana University law professor, and Steve Volan, a former Bloomington city councilmember.

As a group of five, over the course of 90 minutes, they answered a dozen questions that asked for their thoughts on a new jail, housing,  and more.

This report focuses on just the race between Thomas and Iversen. The B Square will report on the other race separately.

At a mid-February event hosted by the Building Association of South Central Indiana (BASCI), Iversen and Thomas answered questions from moderator John Fernandez, who is now vice president for innovation and strategic partnerships at The Mill.

The full forum from Saturday (March 23) is available to watch on CATS. Below is a summary of just a few highlights, which are not necessarily organized in the chronological order of the forum.

The event was cosponsored by the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, Monroe County NAACP, Monroe County NOW, IU PACE, IU BIG Voting Challenge, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Kappa Tau Omega Chapter.

Moderating the forum was Maria Douglas who is development director for Middle Way House. Continue reading “County commissioner candidates Peter Iversen, Julie Thomas field questions on new jail, housing” →

Bloomington city council OKs convention center interlocal accord, but not unanimously

Bloomington city councilmember Kate Rosenbarger.
Monroe County capital improvement board president John Whikehart.
Downtown Bloomington, Inc. executive director Talisha Coppock.
Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson.
Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce director of advocacy Christopher Emge.
Bloomington corporation counsel Margie Rice.

The governance structure for the expansion of the Monroe Convention center, which currently stands at 3rd Street and College Avenue, is now settled.

On Wednesday night, Bloomington’s city council approved its side of a four-way interlocal agreement about the way the Monroe County capital improvement board (CIB) will interact with other local units, to handle the convention center expansion project.

The vote on the nine-member city council was 7–1. Dissenting was Kate Rosenbarger.

The tally does not add to 9, because the District 5 seat is currently vacant, pending the selection of a replacement at Saturday’s (March 2) vacancy caucus to be held by the Democratic Party.

Bloomington mayor Kerry Thomson attended Wednesday’s meeting, but did not address the council. After the council’s vote, Thomson responded to a B Square question by saying she would be signing the agreement as soon as it is presented to her.

The city council’s approval came after the Monroe County commissioners approved the agreement last week,  and the county council adopted it the week before. Continue reading “Bloomington city council OKs convention center interlocal accord, but not unanimously” →

Elections 2024: Thomas, Iversen square off for builders in Dems primary for county commissioner

Appearing on Thursday in front of around 130 people at the monthly meeting of the Building Association of South Central Indiana (BASCI) at the Bloomington Country Club were Julie Thomas and Peter Iversen.

The two are candidates in the Democratic Party’s primary race for Monroe County commissioner District 2. Thomas is the incumbent, who has served in the role since 2013. Iversen is currently in the middle of a four-year term serving on the county council.

To run for the seat, Thomas and Iversen are required to live in District 2, which coincides with Bloomington Township. That is the northern half of the city of Bloomington.

But the vote for county commissioner seats is countywide. That means any eligible voter who participates in the Democratic Party’s primary will have a choice between Thomas and Iversen.

Asking the questions on Thursday was John Fernandez, who is a former mayor of Bloomington. They covered topics like economic development, housing, and land use. Continue reading “Elections 2024: Thomas, Iversen square off for builders in Dems primary for county commissioner” →

New studies could inform August plan commission review of 6,000-unit development in SW Bloomington

Bloomington plan commission (July 10, 2023)
Close up proximity map of Summit District PUD.
Overview map of Summit District PUD.
Travis Vencel , Sullivan Development
Angela Parker, attorney for the Summit District PUD development team.
Tyler Ridge, president of The Ridge Group, and managing member of Sudbury Development Partners LLC
Rachel Knoble, Weimer Road resident

At its regular Monday meeting, Bloomington’s plan commission completed the first round of its deliberations on a 140-acre rezone request for a tract of raw land in southwest Bloomington.

The property is located east of Weimer Road, and west of the RCA Community Park. It’s also west of some land owned by the Monroe County government. The county-owned land has received some discussion as a possible location of a new county jail facility.

The planned unit development (PUD) rezone of the property, which is proposed by Sudbury Development Partners, LLC, would allow up to 6,000 units of housing to be constructed, in five different neighborhoods over the course of the next eight years.

Commissioners voted unanimously to put the item on their Aug. 14 agenda for another hearing.

By the time of the August meeting, it’s possible that a new regional housing study will have been released. Also hoped for by the time of the second hearing is a utilities study for the development area that is being done by city of Bloomington utilities (CBU).

Another set of information, which will eventually help refine the details of the project, is a traffic study that the development team will be conducting. Continue reading “New studies could inform August plan commission review of 6,000-unit development in SW Bloomington” →

Bloomington plan commission to hear 6,000-unit housing proposal for 140 acres of undeveloped land

The image is taken from Monroe County’s online property lookup system.

A 140-acre tract of raw land in the southwest part of Bloomington could become the site of a five-neighborhood development with up to 6,000 housing units.

A proposed planned unit development (PUD) appears on the Bloomington plan commission’s Monday agenda, which would rezone the area to allow for the Summit District proposal to be built—over the course of the next eight years.

The property is located east of Weimer Road, and west of the RCA Community Park. It’s also west of  some land owned by the Monroe County government. The county-owned land has received some discussion as a possible location of a new county jail facility. Continue reading “Bloomington plan commission to hear 6,000-unit housing proposal for 140 acres of undeveloped land” →

Holcomb visits Bloomington, Cook Group president tells locals: “We can’t sit around and wait for the governor…to solve our problems.”

Eric Holcomb.
Pamela Whitten.
Pete Yonkman.
It’s a sign. (Feb. 16, 2023)

On Thursday, the Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce hosted a luncheon at the Monroe Convention Center featuring Indiana governor Eric Holcomb.

The main event highlighted Holcomb as he fielded questions from Indiana University president Pamela Whitten, as the two sat in easy chairs in front of an audience of about 450 people.

But for many in attendance, it was the remarks delivered by Cook Group president Pete Yonkman, towards the start of the program, that might have left a more lasting impression. Cook is Bloomington’s second largest employer behind Indiana University.

Yonkman said at the start that he did not have prepared speech to deliver, as he does on most occasions.

But the impromptu remarks that Yonkman did make were organized around one basic theme: Bloomington’s local leaders need to overcome their differences to make progress on important issues.

Specific issues that Yonkman highlighted included housing, conditions at the county jail, and the lack of progress on the convention center expansion. Continue reading “Holcomb visits Bloomington, Cook Group president tells locals: “We can’t sit around and wait for the governor…to solve our problems.”” →

Vacation of alleys for hospital site redevelopment gets yes from Bloomington council on second try

Looking west from Morton Street down the alley city council was asked to vacate.
Looking south from 2nd Street down the alley that city council was asked to vacate.
Highlighted in yellow are the alleys the city council was asked to vacate.
Schematic drawing by local architect Marc Cornett showing alleys in red where he thinks they should be added.
Proposed addition of alleys to be worked out after vacation of alleys. (June 1, 2022)

At its meeting on Wednesday, Bloomington’s city council voted unanimously to vacate parts of two alleys in one of the blocks near the former site of the IU Health hospital.

The request came from the Hamilton administration through the Bloomington redevelopment commission (RDC).

The block in question is bounded by Morton and Rogers streets on the east and west, and by 2nd and 1st streets on the north and south.

The vacation of alleys approved by the council on Wednesday was the same proposal that had failed on a 4–5 vote in the first week of April.

But the council used an uncommon procedure from Robert’s Rules—called “renewal” of a motion—to consider the question again on Wednesday.

Convincing the council to revisit the question were several concessions made by the administration in connection with the planning for the former hospital site, which has been named the Hopewell neighborhood. Continue reading “Vacation of alleys for hospital site redevelopment gets yes from Bloomington council on second try” →

Bloomington OKs 213 new apartments, 340 bedrooms on north side

At its Monday evening meeting, Bloomington’s plan commission approved the site plan for the construction of 213 new apartments on the northeast side of the roundabout at 17th Street and Arlington Road.

The project to be built by MHG Apartments takes up about 7 acres of land, which is made up of a half dozen different parcels.

It’s a four-story multi-family building that will be home to the 213 new units with their combined 340 bedrooms. The breakdown on the mix of sizes is: 93 one-bedroom units; 113 two-bedroom units, and 7 three-bedroom units.

The plan commission’s vote was 7–1 with dissent from Ron Smith, the city council’s representative to the plan commission.

Smith objected to what he described as the “monolithic” character of the building. “I worry that we have a lot of monolithic apartment complexes in town,” Smith said. Continue reading “Bloomington OKs 213 new apartments, 340 bedrooms on north side” →

Bloomington city council balks for now at vacating some public right-of-way on former hospital site

Looking south from Madison Street at 2nd Street across the parcel where Madison Street is planned to be extended.
Looking west from Morton Street down the alley city council was asked to vacate.
Looking south from 2nd Street down the alley that city council was asked to vacate.
Highlighted in yellow are the alleys the city council was asked to vacate.
Schematic drawing by local architect Marc Cornett showing alleys in red where he thinks they should be added.

A request from Bloomington’s redevelopment commission (RDC) to vacate parts of two alleys in one of the blocks near the former site of the IU Health hospital was denied by Bloomington’s city council at its Wednesday meeting.

The vote was split 4–5, but not along familiar lines.

Voting to give up the right-of-way were: Isabel Piedmont-Smith, Sue Sgambelluri, Jim Sims, and Ron Smith. Voting against the vacation of the alleys were: Matt Flaherty, Dave Rollo, Kate Rosenbarger, Susan Sandberg, and Steve Volan.

The RDC’s request came in connection with the planned redevelopment of the site, which Bloomington is acquiring from the health provider in a $6.5 million real estate deal. Continue reading “Bloomington city council balks for now at vacating some public right-of-way on former hospital site” →