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The Bloomington City Council votes against the Green Acres Conservation District and discusses potential next steps for reaching an agreement

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Bloomington, Indiana – The Bloomington City Council proceeded with its meeting on Tuesday following a “consensus-building activity” on September 11 to include community people in resolving Bloomington’s housing dilemma. At Tuesday’s meeting, the council acknowledged areas for improvement while also expressing gratitude for the chance to interact and hear from constituents directly.

Additionally, after the committee withdrew the petition, the council decided not to enact an ordinance that would have made the Green Acres neighborhood a conservation district. Property owners in Green Acres had written to the council multiple times objecting to the ordinance. The Green Acres Conservation District Development Committee made it clear in their letter to withdraw the petition that they intend to revisit the matter.

At the Sept. 18 city council meeting, the council overwhelmingly approved an ordinance pertaining to the distribution of funding to a public works post that was established earlier this year. Following over an hour of discussion at the previous regular session, the vote was rescheduled for Tuesday due to unresolved questions. According to Public Works Director Adam Wason, the lapse that resulted in the position’s creation ordinance not being accompanied by its funding ordinance was the cause of the confusion.

Piedmont-Smith also established a commission to examine public officials’ compensation.
Before reading the ordinances, the council gave significant thought to reaching a consensus.

Councilwoman Courtney Daily remarked, “I really appreciated the community involvement. How many people showed up and were eager to work with us?” “It increased my motivation to ensure that we follow through.”

Based on comments from community members at the meeting, it appears that including single-room occupancy as an option for development in the city’s unified development policy is a definite first step in the right direction. Adding single-room housing, according to a number of participants in the consensus-building exercise, would expand the alternatives for affordable accommodation. Both Hopi Stosberg and Kate Rosenbarger, council members, reported that they have had meetings with the planning department to talk about the possibilities.

According to Councilmember Sydney Zulich, “I thought it was really helpful just in terms of narrowing in on what our Bloomington community thought would be productive and what wouldn’t necessarily help us combat homelessness.”

Adding single-use occupancy, she said, was considered a better answer by many she spoke with than just modifying the unified development ordinance’s definition of family.

A few council members expressed their desire for increased community involvement. According to Daily, she believes that not enough people knew that attendance was encouraged.

“It didn’t seem like there was a very strong range of opinions from the organizations that I know exist in the community and have some ideas, worries, and firsthand knowledge of this,” council member Andy Ruff remarked.

While the council can work on amending the unified development ordinance, council president Isabel Piedmont-Smith noted that the meeting revealed a discrepancy between the council’s authority and its responsibilities, with the majority of the work falling under the mayor’s and her administration’s executive authority.

The council will next convene in a special session on October 9 to vote on three ordinances that make up Bloomington Transportation, utilities, and the civil city’s budget. On October 16, during the next regular session, there will be a public hearing regarding an ordinance authorizing the clerk’s office to provide funds for staff expenditures.

 

 

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