At its Nov. 15 meeting, the Bloomington Plan Commission approved the next step in the Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County's Osage Place development. The approval related to 5.34 acres for 30 residential houses and three common areas. The site is located at 650 W. Guy Avenue and is part of a larger 12.5-acre project there.

Construction has already begun and the first houses are expected to be completed by early 2022.

Watch the Plan Commission discussion on CATS here. Read the proposal from the meeting packet here.

A revised residential development next to the Johnson Creamery Building received site plan approval at the Oct. 18 Bloomington Plan Commission meeting. 

The residential development will be built in the parking lot north of the Creamery building and south of 8th St. It will include 51 apartments of mostly studio and one-bedroom units, with a few two- and three-bedroom apartments. The ground floor, which can be accessed via the BLine, will include a fitness center and office space.

More details are available in the Plan Commission's meeting packet here. Watch the discussion on CATS here.

At their Oct. 13 meeting, Monroe County Commissioners have approved a scaled-down version of Clear Creek Urban, a mixed-use development at the intersection of South Rogers and That Road. The development will include paired townhomes, multi-family units, and commercial space on land across from the U.S. Post Office.

​The original proposal by Blind Squirrels LLC, led by Tamby Cassady, was a higher density version that commissioners rejected earlier this year.

Read the Clear Creek Urban proposal from the commissioners' meeting packet here. Watch the deliberations on CATS here.

The City of Bloomington Planning and Transportation Department will release their preliminary design plans for their upcoming Neighborhood Greenway projects at two public input meetings at the beginning of October. Those who are interested in providing feedback or learning more about these projects are encouraged to attend these meetings at the following outdoor locations:
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• October 1st from 3-5 p.m. at the intersection of E. 8th Street and N. Overhill Drive to discuss the proposed E. 7th Street Greenway from N. Union to the 7th Street Underpass.   
• October 5th from 4-6 p.m. at the Broadview Park Pavilion (704 W. Graham Drive) to discuss the Broadview/Graham Neighborhood Greenway from S. Rockport Road to S. Rogers Street.    

For more information on these Neighborhood Greenway projects, please follow this link to the project's webpage. Staff members will attend both meetings to answer any questions from the public.  

A public workshop to explore the future of Ellettsville is planned for Wednesday, Sept. 15 from 6-8 p.m. at the Ellettsville Town Hall, 1150 W. Guy McCown Drive.

Called Envision Ellettsville, the project aims to create a clear identity and long-term vision for the Ellettsville community. The hope is to provide a framework for future planning.

​Learn more on the Envision Ellettsville website.

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.

The City of Bloomington is holding a public forum on Thursday, May 13 to review the reconstruction of West First Street from South Fairview to South College. The project is part of the broader redevelopment of the Bloomington Hospital site, which the city is acquiring later this year.

The forum runs from 6-7 p.m. via this Zoom link. Click here for the project's website. For more information about the overall hospital site redevelopment, click here.

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).

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.