Tag: variance

Bloomington looks to ban billboards: Even if outdoor ad firm wins current legal case, sign could be nixed

Looking east at Kinser Pike, along SR 45/46. This Lamar Outdoor Advertising billboard is the subject of litigation.
Excerpt from the city of Bloomington’s zoning map, which shows the location of a billboard that’s subject of litigation.

Last Monday, Bloomington’s plan commission heard a proposal from mayor John Hamilton’s administration to amend the city’s zoning code for signs.

The amendment would effectively make all billboards in Bloomington disappear by 2031. That includes the one off Kinser Pike next to the SR 45/46 bypass, which is currently subject to litigation.

Last year, after the billboard’s owner, Lamar Outdoor Advertising, converted the billboard face to a digital display, Bloomington cited the company for violation of the UDO’s regulations on electronic reader boards.

Lamar is fighting the citation. Even if Lamar wins the court case, the company could eventually have to take down the billboard—if the amendment to the city’s unified development ordinance (UDO) is eventually approved by the city council. Continue reading “Bloomington looks to ban billboards: Even if outdoor ad firm wins current legal case, sign could be nixed” →

Lease to housing nonprofit for apartments, daycare on former water tower site OK’d by Bloomington

2014 flyover image from Monroe County online property lookup system.
2022 flyover image from Monroe County online property lookup system.

Just east of the Crestmont neighborhood, on Bloomington’s north side, a new two-story building with three income-restricted apartments on the upper floor, and a licensed daycare facility on the ground floor, could soon start construction.

It’s the location of the old water tower at the corner of 14th and Monroe streets.

Clearing the way for that project was the approval on Tuesday night by Bloomington’s board of public works of a 99-year zero-cost lease. The board of public works is the owner of the property. Summit Hill Development Corporation is the future tenant that will have the project built. Continue reading “Lease to housing nonprofit for apartments, daycare on former water tower site OK’d by Bloomington” →

Denial of variance for 15 condos could lead to change in ground floor regs for downtown Bloomington

Panorama of existing site, looking north from Kirkwood Avenue (Oct. 20, 2022)
Bloomington BZA member Tim Ballard (Oct. 20, 2022).
Bloomington BZA member Jo Throckmorton (Oct. 20, 2022).
Bloomington BZA member Barre Klapper (Oct. 20, 2022).
Attorney Christine Bartlett (Oct. 20, 2022).
Developer Randy Lloyd (Oct. 20, 2022).
Rendering of proposed building from the corner of Kirkwood Avenue and Washington Street.

Just east of the courthouse square on Kirkwood Avenue in downtown Bloomington, the empty parcel next to the CVS looks like it will serve as a paid parking lot at least a little while longer.

On Thursday, Bloomington’s board of zoning appeals (BZA) denied a variance requested by owner Randy Lloyd, which would have allowed the construction of a four-story building with 15 owner-occupied condos.

As proposed, 19 percent of the ground floor is designed as commercial space. That’s why the BZA was asked to grant a variance from a requirement in Bloomington’s downtown overlay—that at least 50 percent of the ground floor square footage be designed for non-residential and non-parking uses.

As designed, the building would include about 20 parking spaces on the ground floor, with the garage entrance off the alley that runs north-south between Kirkwood Avenue and 6th Street.

Lloyd asked for the variance based in part on the idea that the proposed building included the minimum number of parking spaces that would be needed to make the owner-occupied condos and retail space economically viable. Continue reading “Denial of variance for 15 condos could lead to change in ground floor regs for downtown Bloomington” →

Bloomington city council redistricting notebook: What might have been 10 years ago?

Bloomington’s redistricting advisory commission will meet for a second time on Monday (July 25), in the McCloskey Room at city hall, starting at 7:30 p.m.

To preview the commission’s meeting, The B Square took a look back to the council’s work a decade ago, which is the last time the city council districts were redrawn.

The boundaries have to be reconsidered every 10 years in the context of the decennial census. If the census shows that the populations of the districts are out of kilter, the boundaries are supposed to be redrawn to balance things out.

Ten years ago, it was the at-large councilmembers who formed a committee to review potential new maps. That means it was Andy Ruff, Timothy Mayer and Susan Sandberg who confronted the redistricting task.

The map that was adopted in 2012 served to define the council districts for the 2015 and 2019 municipal elections. Whatever map the council adopts this year, sometime before Dec. 31, will serve as the district map for the 2023 elections.

The B Square was able to locate online some records of those meetings.  Those records show that the committee considered several possible maps, other than the one that was eventually adopted by the council that year. Continue reading “Bloomington city council redistricting notebook: What might have been 10 years ago?” →

Zoning board doesn’t yield to COVID-19, grants driveway variances for 4th Street parking garage; Bloomington city council cancels work session

Bill Riggert, engineer with Bledsoe Riggert Cooper & James, addresses Bloomington’s board of zoning appeals on March 19, 2020.
Bloomington’s board of zoning appeals meeting, March 19, 2020.
The Facebook video stream was projected on large screens, so that comments were visible to members of the board of zoning appeals at their March 19, 2020 meeting.

On Thursday night in Bloomington, as the COVID-19 pandemic stalled a lot of public business, some of the People’s work was still getting done.

At the regular meeting of the city’s board of zoning appeals (BZA), a replacement garage at 4th and Walnut streets in downtown got two required variances.

The BZA’s Thursday action clears the way for construction of the project, which is hoped to start sometime around August this year, and be complete in August of 2021.

The BZA’s approval followed the project’s site plan approval by the city’s plan commission almost two weeks ago. Of the 537 spaces to be constructed in the new garage, 352 count as replacements for the spaces that were previously housed in the 4th Street structure, which was closed at the end of 2018 due to structural issues. Continue reading “Zoning board doesn’t yield to COVID-19, grants driveway variances for 4th Street parking garage; Bloomington city council cancels work session” →