Tag: zoning district

140-acre rezone proposal gets first hearing from Bloomington city council, to continue on May 1

Bloomington city council meeting on April 17, 2024. Andy Ruff attended on the Zoom video platform. Matt Flaherty was absent.
Councilmember Isak Asare distributes to his colleagues a handout from the Summit District developer. (April 17, 2024)
Overview map of Summit District PUD.
Close up proximity map of Summit District PUD.
Bloomington city councilmember Hopi Stosberg. (April 17, 2024)
Travis Vencel, with Sullivan Development (April 17, 2024)
, and Angela Parker, legal counsel for Sudbury Associates. (April 17, 2024).
Bloomington’s development services manager Jackie Scanlan (April 17, 2024)

A rezone request for about 140 acres in the southwest part of Bloomington will get continued discussion from the city council at its May 1 meeting.

At its meeting this past Wednesday, the city council heard the presentation on the Summit District PUD proposal from development services manager Jackie Scanlan, followed by remarks from Travis Vencel, with Sullivan Development, and Angela Parker, legal counsel for Sudbury Associates.

A PUD (planned unit development) zoning district is a kind of customized zoning district that uses an existing zoning district as a baseline, but diverges from it, in order to deal with challenges that are unique to the district.

On Wednesday, the council gave itself just four minutes apiece for questions of staff and the petitioner. The public comment lasted around 45 minutes.

Highlights from public comment  included concerns that have been expressed since the proposal was first heard by Bloomington’s plan commission, in July of last year.

Those concerns included the potential impact on stormwater flows, traffic, and the capacity of the city’s sewer system, in addition to impacts on the visual landscape.

Public comment also included support, based on the additional estimated 4,250 units of housing the rezone could make possible, in five new neighborhoods, over the course of the next 10 years.

The city’s plan commission gave the project a 7–0 recommendation at its mid-March meeting this year.

There did not seem to be any strong overt opposition to the rezone conveyed by councilmembers, during their allotted time for questions. Continue reading “140-acre rezone proposal gets first hearing from Bloomington city council, to continue on May 1” →

Bloomington resisting rezone to allow 2 group homes for treating addiction, but second hearing set

Bloomington plan commissioner Jillian Kinzie. (Feb. 12, 2024)
Bloomington plan commissioners Chris Smith and Hopi Stosberg. (Feb. 12, 2024)
Bloomington plan commissioner Brad Wisler. (Feb. 12, 2024)

A rezone request from the Indiana Center for Recovery (ICR) will get a second hearing at the next scheduled meeting of Bloomington’s plan commission, on March 11.

But based on Monday night’s deliberations, in March it will be a tough slog for ICR to win a recommendation of approval from the plan commission for its rezone request.

The center would like to build two group home facilities in central Bloomington, near Walker and 1st Streets—one on the north side of West 1st Street, and the other on the south side. The homes would be used for treating patients with substance use disorders and mental and behavioral health conditions.

But to use the land for the purpose of treating patients in a group home would require a rezone of the property, which is currently designated as R3 (residential small lot).

The ICR wants the land rezoned to MH (mixed use healthcare), which was previously the zoning district for the property, before it was rezoned from MH to R3 as a part of the 2021 adoption of a new zoning map for the city.

It is Bloomington’s city council that will have the final say on ICR’s requested rezoning—even if the plan commission’s recommendation is something the council can weigh.

But looks likely that at least two councilmembers would vote against the rezone, if the question is eventually put in front of them. On Monday, councilmember Isabel Piedmont-Smith spoke from the public mic, already in opposition to the rezone proposal.

Hopi Stosberg, who is the city council’s appointed to the plan commission, said that the requested rezone “feels like a step back instead of a step forward.”

On the plan commission, vice president Jillian Kinzie said the proposal “seems incompatible with what we’ve outlined in the comp[rehensive] plan.” Continue reading “Bloomington resisting rezone to allow 2 group homes for treating addiction, but second hearing set” →

Permanent sign for Inkwell made possible by Bloomington’s hearing officer

This February 2022 aerial image is from Monroe County’s online property lookup system.
Google Street View from July 2023 of Inkwell location at Woodlawn and Atwater.
Excerpt from the proposed signage from the hearing officer’s Dec. 3, 2024 information packet.

Since fall of 2021, temporary banners have served as signage for Inkwell Bakery and Cafe’s second location at Woodlawn and Atwater avenues, on the southwestern edge of Indiana University’s Bloomington campus.

Those banners can now be swapped out for permanent signs, based on Wednesday’s action by the city of Bloomington’s hearing officer, Ryan Robling. Continue reading “Permanent sign for Inkwell made possible by Bloomington’s hearing officer” →

8-story student apartment building on North Walnut OK’d by Bloomington plan commission

Locator map.
Shown are recent student-oriented housing developments approved since 2019.
View of Walnut Street looking south.
Site on North Walnut
Sidewalk gap looking north on Walnut Street between 17th and 19th streets.

At its Monday meeting, Bloomington’s nine-member plan commission gave unanimous approval to an 8-story apartment building to be built at the site of the former Great Wall restaurant on North Walnut street.

The 172 apartments will include a total of 463 bedrooms, with the following breakdown: 19 studios, 5 one-bedroom units, 87 two-bedroom units, 14 three-bedroom units, 12 four-bedroom units, and 35 five-bedroom units.

Other details of the project include 264 parking spaces incorporated inside the building.

Nathan Casteel, an architect with DLR Group, and Olivia Prais, with project owner Core SVA attended the plan commission’s meeting—with Prais joining via the Zoom video conferencing platform. Continue reading “8-story student apartment building on North Walnut OK’d by Bloomington plan commission” →

Planning notebook: Former Great Wall restaurant site could be home to 426 college students

Locator map.
Shown are recent student-oriented housing developments approved since 2019.

The property where The Great Wall restaurant formerly stood on North Walnut Street, across from the northern tip of Miller-Showers Park, is now the site of a proposed 8-story student-oriented apartment building.

The building would include a mix of 3-bedroom, 4-bedroom and 5-bedroom apartments, for a total of 426 bedrooms.

That’s based on a preview of an April 10 Bloomington plan commission item given at a Tuesday morning work session by senior zoning planner Eric Greulich. Continue reading “Planning notebook: Former Great Wall restaurant site could be home to 426 college students” →