The Bloomington Plan Commission voted unanimously to approve a project converting the hotel at 1722 N. Walnut to 85 studio apartments. No additional approval is required, and the conversion might be completed by the fall of 2021.

The hotel, currently called America's Best Value Inn, is located just south of the former Motel 6 site, where a new apartment complex is being built.

The Plan Commission's vote occurred at its April 12 meeting.

On a 5-4 vote, the Bloomington Plan Commission supported permitting duplexes in all residential zones. Voting in favor were Flavia Burrell, Chris Cockerham, Jillian Kinzie, Karin St. John and Brad Wisler. Voting against were Beth Cate, Andrew Cibor, Susan Sandberg and Israel Herrera.

Earlier in the meeting, commissioners rejected an amendment that would have prevented duplexes in all residential districts. That vote was 1-8, with support only from Susan Sandberg.

Commissioners also voted 6-3 to remove a requirement that would have prevented more than one duplex built within a 150-foot buffer for a two-year period.
 
The administration/planning staff had recommended duplexes as conditional uses in all residential districts. The recommendation for triplexes and quadplexes is conditional in only R-4, and that remains unchanged at this point.
 
This is part of the city’s UDO update. The next meeting is on Thursday, April 1, at 5:30 p.m. and Beth Cate has indicated that she’ll propose putting a cap on the number of duplexes allowed in each district.
 
After the Plan Commission finishes their updates, this will go to Bloomington Council for final approval. 

Watch the March 29 Plan Commission meeting here. More information about the UDO process is here.

Clear Creek Urban, a proposed five-building mixed-use project on South Rogers in Perry Township, was approved by Monroe County Plan Commission on March 23.

The vote was 6-3. It will now move to the three-member Monroe County Commissioners for final approval. Commissioner Julie Thomas, who also serves on the Plan Commission, voted against it.

Click here to watch the Plan Commission's deliberations on CATS.

At its March 8 meeting, the Bloomington Plan Commission approved three out of 10 proposed amendments to the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), starting a formal process that will continue over the next few weeks.

The three approved ordinances were: ZO-01-21 (technical corrections for scrivener’s errors, punctuation, references, and/or citations); ZO-02-21 (technical corrections, not substantive changes, in Chapter 2 Zoning Districts); and ZO-05-21 (technical corrections, not substantive changes, in Chapter 5 Subdivision Standards).

The next meeting is on March 22. The most controversial revisions – involving duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes – will be considered at the commission's March 25 meeting. A revised zoning map will be on the March 29 agenda. 

Following action by the Plan Commission, the revisions will be forwarded to the Bloomington Council for final approval. Find more information about the UDO revisions here.

The City of Bloomington has issued a Request for Information (RFI) for development of the Kohr Building, as part of a broader redevelopment of the Bloomington Hospital site.

The RFI is for an affordable or mixed-income, multi-family residential project. Built in 1947, the 23,000-square-foot building was recently designated as a historic structure.

Responses are due by April 2 at 4 p.m. Click here for the complete RFI document. And learn more about the hospital site redevelopment project here.

The City of Bloomington planning staff have released a final draft proposal for the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) that will be heard by the city Plan Commission on March 8.

The draft revises some of the initially proposed changes. For example, it pulls back on a controversial plan to allow duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes in several neighborhoods that are predominantly single-family homes. Click here to learn more about the proposal.

The Plan Commission's March 8 public hearing on the UDO begins at 5:30 p.m. on Zoom via this link.

The City of Bloomington has release a master plan for the redevelopment of the Bloomington Hospital site, which the city is expected to take ownership of later this year. The 24-acre site will be vacated when IU Health moves to its new complex on the east side of town.

The downtown Bloomington site is bounded by West 2nd Street to the north, West Wylie Street to the south, the B-Line Trail to the east, and South Walker Street to the west. The area is being considered for a mix of residential and commercial development.

Find more information on the project's website.

The Monroe County Plan Commission will review a draft zoning module at its Dec. 14 meeting, as part of a major zoning overhaul that the county is undertaking. The meeting starts at 5:30 p.m. via this Zoom link. The draft module, which focuses on administrative procedures, is available here.

This revision of the County Development Ordinance (CDO) is being undertaken by consultants McBride Dale Clarion and consists of three modules. Module 2 focuses on zoning districts and uses, while Module 3 will cover dimensional and development standards and definitions.

Background and more info is on the Monroe County CDO site.

A draft of Module 1 for Monroe County's County Development Ordinance (CDO) was reviewed at the Nov. 18 meeting of the Ordinance Review Committee. Module 1 focuses on administration, processes, subdivision control, and enforcement.

This project is being led by consultant McBride Dale Clarion. The ordinance is divided into three modules, which the county Plan Commission will review separately but approve as a whole, likely in 2021. The CDO will then move to the Monroe County Commissioners for approval.

Click here for information about the CDO process.

The City of Bloomington is holding a second public forum about the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) mapping process to focus on the new student housing zone. The meeting on Thursday, Oct. 29 starts at 5:30 p.m. via this Zoom link.

The city is continuing a two-year overhaul of the UDO, the city's main zoning document. In addition to updating its zoning map, planning staff are bringing forward text amendments related to duplexes, triplexes and quadplexes. The proposal, if approved by city council, would allow such structures as either conditional or permitted uses in more residential districts.
 
​More information, including an online survey, is available on the UDO mapping website. You can watch a recording of the city's Oct. 27 forum, which provided a general overview, here. The planning staff is expected to present a formal proposal to the Bloomington Plan Commission in early 2021.