Zero conditional use requests for duplexes after 6 months under Bloomington’s new zoning, plan commissioner named

Since Bloomington’s most recently updated unified development ordinance (UDO) was signed into law by mayor John Hamilton on July 12 last year, no conditional use applications have been filed to build duplexes in older residential neighborhoods.

That was the report to the Bloomington city council’s Wednesday meeting by development services manager Jackie Scanlan. The only way new duplexes can be constructed in older neighborhoods is through a conditional use application.

Also on Wednesday, planning and transportation director Scott Robinson alerted the council to some upcoming proposed changes in the UDO—revisions to the incentives that are available to developers. Developers of student housing are using the sustainability incentive, but not the affordability incentive, Robinson reported. The goal of the proposed changes will be to encourage the use of both incentive types, Robinson said.

Those proposed changes to the UDO’s incentives will eventually be reviewed by Bloomington’s plan commission, before the city council makes a decision. The city plan commission’s next meeting is set for Feb. 7. That will be the commission’s first meeting of the year. The group will have two new faces compared to last year.

The city council representative to the plan commission will be Ron Smith, not Susan Sandberg, who has served the last few years in that role. The other new face isTim Ballard, who has been appointed to the Bloomington plan commission as the replacement for Beth Cate, who resigned when she took the role of the city’s corporation counsel in early January.

Ballard is a broker/realtor with Griffin Realty, the firm headed up by Bloomington’s deputy mayor, Don Griffin. Continue reading “Zero conditional use requests for duplexes after 6 months under Bloomington’s new zoning, plan commissioner named” →

Bloomington duplex zoning ordinance enacted on 6–3 vote, revised citywide zoning map OK’d on 8–1 tally

On votes that were taken on five different days, starting on May 4, Bloomington’s city council has approved an ordinance that changes the status of duplexes in the basic law of land use in the city.

The final vote came on Thursday (May 13).

In the course of its deliberations, the council considered five different amendments to the ordinance.

Two of them were successful—the one making duplexes a conditional use, instead of a permitted use (Am 02), and the one that imposed a cap of 15 duplexes per year and a two-year 150-foot buffer around parcels that are granted a conditional use permit (Am 03).

Instead of being disallowed in the central residential districts of the city (R1, R2, and R3), duplexes will now be allowed, but subject to a review by the board of zoning appeals for a conditional use permit.

The final amendment—to add consideration of undue impact of traffic to criteria to be considered for granting a conditional use permit (Am 05)—failed on a 3–6 vote. Only Dave Rollo, Susan Sandberg and Ron Smith supported it.

Sue Sgambelluri, who had joined the trio in supporting the failed effort to disallow duplexes in R1, R2, and R3, did not throw her support to Am 05. She said that the general criteria in the unified development ordinance (UDO) on review of conditional uses were sufficient, without adding conditions that are specific to duplexes.

It was the same split, but flipped, that determined the 6–3 vote on the ordinance as amended. Only Rollo, Sandberg, and Smith voted against it. Continue reading “Bloomington duplex zoning ordinance enacted on 6–3 vote, revised citywide zoning map OK’d on 8–1 tally” →

Zoning law revisions considered by Bloomington plan commission: 3 down, 7 to go

Proposed amendments to the text of Bloomington’s unified development ordinance (UDO), and proposed changes to the citywide zoning map, were scrutinized by the public in late 2020.

The insertion of the word “all” in one spot is the only change to the UDO made by Ordinance ZO-02-21. It was unanimously recommended for adoption by the plan commission Monday night. The more controversial aspects of the 10-ordinance package are not expected to be heard until March 25 at the soonest.

Revised versions of the proposed text and map changes have now landed in front of the city’s nine-member plan commission.

In about an hour on Monday night, the city’s plan commission dispatched a handful of the more non-controversial zoning changes.

Votes on three proposed changes came after commissioners received an overview of the whole package from development services manager Jackie Scanlan.

Plan commission president Brad Wisler remarked, “We’re off to a pretty good start here.” Continue reading “Zoning law revisions considered by Bloomington plan commission: 3 down, 7 to go” →