From Red Tape to Green Lights: Streamlining Local Permits

The Hopewell neighborhood project is a shiny new look to smart community planning and development. The neighborhood reuses the site of the former IU Health Bloomington Hospital, which the city purchased for $6.5 million. The neighborhood includes the 1-acre Hopewell Commons Park and will include mixed housing types for different price points. The city is partnering with Flintlock LAB, a firm that specializes in community-based housing solutions to take on this project. 

Hopewell’s latest updates
 Since its master plan was introduced 5 years ago, Bloomington opened a new city park, the Hopewell Commons, in April of this year. They also began construction of the 38 low-income housing units at the former Kohr Administration building in October of last year, which will wrap up in 2026. Since construction is in phases, Hopewell has yet to start construction of homes. The latest update from the city was on September 8th, 2025 notifying that street construction has begun on West Second Street, the northern border of the project. Street construction will modernize utilities (including water and sewer, natural gas, power, and natural gas), 10-ft sidewalk, tree plot, bicycle lanes, and street lighting. The project will be broken up into 6 phases where there will be road closures intermittently. Construction is expected to carry through until June 2026. 

How Portland’s permit ease can be applied to Hopewell
While the city is finding ways to streamline development, there could be a solution that would reduce the time to break ground on housing: through simplifying permits. This is an effort that the city of Portland, Oregon is exploring to expedite economic development. By pausing certain permits, it reduces costs for permit applications, and reduces the review wait time. Through their Code Alignment Project, they are pausing requirements until 2029 on permits regarding:

• tree planting
• street improvements
• on-site upgrade mandates for non-conforming situations
• seismic vulnerability reports for old buildings

Exceptions to this moratorium include street planting requirements for new buildings, and street improvements that still apply for significant alterations. With street modernization already underway in Bloomington, these exceptions would not apply to this project. The city could create a moratorium for similar permits in the Portland case and could end it at any time they deem fit for the Hopewell project or others. This would be a solution to streamline future Hopewell redevelopment. 
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Need for speed
The city should consider solutions such as a pause in certain permits without sacrificing safety and begin swift development efforts. With the new Herald Times article stressing the need for affordable mixed housing in Bloomington, a project like Hopewell Neighborhood is more needed than ever.

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