In a unanimous vote at their May 12 meeting, Monroe County Commissioners rejected a proposal for housing and retail on South Rogers, known as Clear Creek Urban. The three commissioners objected to the density of the development and possible traffic congestion, and felt there wasn't enough parking.

"We are the county. We are not the city," Commissioner Julie Thomas said. She wants the developer, Tamby Wikle-Cassady, to bring back a scaled-down version of the project, which included townhomes, apartments and commercial/retail space.

Several people spoke in support of the project, including County Councilor Geoff McKim, County Surveyor Trohn Enright-Randolph, and Cathi Crabtree, chair of the Monroe County Affordable Housing Advisory Commission. Representatives of the Chamber and the Bloomington Economic Development Corp. spoke about the need for more housing. One person spoke against it.

Click here to watch the Commissioners' discussion on CATS. Click here to view the project packet.

Bloomington Council has voted to approve duplexes as a conditional use in core residential zoning districts. The vote on May 6 was unanimous, and followed a May 5 vote that rejected a duplex ban. The Plan Commission had previously recommended that duplexes be a permitted use.

A conditional use requires a hearing in front of the city's Board of Zoning Appeals.

Separately, the council also approved constraints, including an annual cap of 15 duplexes citywide. They also imposed a requirement that within a 150-foot buffer of a property where a conditional use permit has been issued for a duplex, no additional duplexes will be allowed for two years.

Council will continue its discussion of duplexes on May 12, as part of the ongoing update to the city's Unified Development Ordinance (UDO).

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.

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 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 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.

The City of Bloomington has released a draft zoning map as the last phase of a two-year overhaul of the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO), the city's main zoning document.

A public forum will be held via Zoom on Tuesday, Oct. 27 from 5:30-7 p.m. with a presentation on the proposed changes and a Q&A session. There will be at least four more meetings in the coming weeks to seek public input, as well as opportunities to provide feedback via online surveys.

A website for the mapping project also contains a proposed housing diversity story map, an interactive map where residents can enter their address, and information about opportunities to provide feedback over the next eight weeks. The input collected during this period will help city staff prepare for public hearings in early 2021 to consider and adopt the new zoning map for the city, along with text amendments.