Sign applications fees in Bloomington will be waived through Sept. 30, following action by Plan Commissioners on June 8. The move is one of several actions that the city is taking to help local businesses in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fee waiver applies to temporary signs ($75 per application) and permanent signs ($125 per application). In presenting the proposal, city attorney Mike Rouker noted that this was one of several requests made by the Chamber on behalf of the business community. Watch the June 8, 2020 Plan Commission meeting here.
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As part of the process to update the Monroe County Consolidated Development Ordinance (CDO), county planning staff are asking residents to participate in focus groups in the coming months. The focus groups are organized into these topics:
Click here to sign up for a CDO focus group. Get more information about the CDO process here. The Bloomington-Monroe County Metropolitan Planning Organization (BMCMPO) is seeking feedback on using the area's transportation system and ideas about how to improve the transportation experience. Responses to a short survey will help inform the BMCMPO's Metropolitan Transportation Plan, which is looking ahead to 2045. This survey will be open through July 2020. Click here to take the survey. Click here to learn more about the MPO's transportation planning efforts. On June 1, the City of Bloomington will launch a revamped website for public input on the redevelopment of the Bloomington hospital site. Consultants hired to develop a master plan – Skidmore, Owings & Merrill – will be meeting with stakeholders later this month. They'll also host an online "town hall" on June 16 at 6 p.m. Details about all public engagement efforts will be posted on the hospital redevelopment site starting June 1. Wednesday, May 27 is the kickoff for the overhaul of Monroe County's zoning, known as the CDO (consolidated development ordinance). Party down, right? Consultants hired by the county – McBride Dale Clarion – will give a presentation to the County Plan Commission starting at 5:30 p.m. On the 27th you can join the Zoom meeting here . Check out the county's CDO site for more information. An overview of the proposed Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan – including several recommendations to lower the use of single-occupancy vehicles – was presented to Bloomington City Council at their March 4, 2020 meeting. Justin Schor of Wells + Associates, the transportation consulting firm hired by the city, made the presentation. Click here to view his slidedeck, or watch it on CATS here. The full report will be available on the city's TDM website. Short-term recommendations include providing a carpool matching service, a "guaranteed ride home" service, education and marketing about transportation options, and an increase in the cost of parking by 50% or more. To implement and manage the city's TDM program, Schor recommended 2.5 employees, including a TDM director, manager and a part-time coordinator. The program's budget is estimated at nearly $500,000 annually. The council would need to vote to approve the program and identify revenues to support it. Redevelopment of the 24-acre Bloomington Hospital site is taking a step forward with the selection of a master planning team to oversee the project. Last fall, the City of Bloomington issued a Request for Information (RFI) and received responses from 23 organizations in December. Of those, eight were selected for interviews by a Technical Review Committee on Jan. 16-17. The committee is chaired by former state Senator Vi Simpson and is a subset of the Hospital Re-Use Committee, on which Chamber CEO Erin Predmore serves. Click here for details about the proposed work of the master planning team. Click here for more info about the redevelopment project. Monroe County is in the process of selecting a consultant to overhaul the county's zoning code. At their Dec. 18 work session, Monroe County Commissioners heard from Larry Wilson, the county's planning director. He said that staff and the county Plan Commission recommended hiring Clarion Associates for the new County Development Ordinance (CDO). Clarion recently did the City of Bloomington's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The firm also has done work for Indianapolis/Marion County, Fort Wayne/Allen County, and hundreds of other communities nationwide. Wilson said that $105,000 remained from the previous CDO appropriation. The county previously hired Calfee Zoning, but that firm was unable to complete the project and reached a settlement with the county to end their contract. Commissioner Julie Thomas, who also serves on the county Plan Commission, said she preferred the other finalist, Clearzoning, because she thought their writing was clearer. "But I'm happy to go with the majority of my colleagues," she added. Wilson reported that Clearzoning, which is based in Michigan, had no experience with projects in Indiana, and would need to learn Indiana statutory requirements. The three-member Monroe County Board of Commissioners is expected to vote on the contract at their Jan. 8 meeting. The seven-member County Council would then be asked to appropriate funds for the work at their Jan. 14 meeting. Wilson told commissioners that he hoped the bulk of the CDO could be completed in 2020. Click here to watch the Dec. 18 working session on CATS. The City of Bloomington is seeking input on how to redevelop the site of the current Bloomington Hospital, a 24-acre area that the city is buying from IU Health. The committee that's working on this project got an update at an Oct. 28, 2019 meeting. Click here to see the slidedeck from that meeting. Erin Predmore, the Chamber's CEO, serves on the reuse committee. Per terms of the agreement with IU Health, the city needs to make a decision by Nov. 21 about whether to keep the Kohr Administrative Building and/or the four-story parking garage, which was built in 1989 and has 480 spaces. The main hospital building must be demolished. The site is located at West 2nd and Rogers. The site will be transferred to the city when the new IU Health Regional Academic Health Center opens in the fall of 2021 along the 45/46 Bypass. Options for residential, retail and office development are being considered. For additional background about this project, check out the city's IU Health Hospital Redevelopment Site website. Click here to take a survey about the site redevelopment. The City of Bloomington has hired RDG Consultants to conduct an in-depth housing study, examining the city's existing rental and owner-occupied housing stock, its location, price points and condition. Based on this analysis, the city plans to complete an assessment of future housing needs. As part of this effort, the city is holding "listening sessions" to get input on Bloomington's current and future housing needs. Sessions will be held Oct. 21 through Oct. 24. For details on specific times and to sign up to attend a session, please click here. Bloomington's housing study is building on the recent Indiana Uplands Regional Housing Study, which was also conducted by RDG Consultants and includes an assessment of Monroe County. Click here for more information on that effort. |
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