Although the Bloomington Plan Commission treated some proposed amendments to the comprehensive master plan with ambivalence, the group came together in unified support for several policy amendments regarding land development and student housing.
Among the more than 30 amendments considered Monday night, several related amendments that garnered specific consideration had to do with policies on the limitation of Indiana University student housing in the downtown area. While commission President Joe Hoffmann said there's still heavy lifting to be done with some of the language, the commission members in attendance agreed upon the importance of such policies.
As adopted by the plan commission, new policy within the developing comprehensive master plan will "(r)edirect new student-oriented housing developments away from the Downtown and nearby areas, and toward more appropriate locations closely proximate to the IU campus that already contain a relatively high percentage of student-oriented housing units, are within easy walking distance to the campus, and have direct access to university-provided parking as well as the university transit system."
"I think if we didn’t say something to this effect, I think people in our community would ask what is wrong with us," Hoffmann said. "
While not an ordinance, this policy statement will guide city decision-making so long as this draft of the comprehensive master plan remains unchanged and is adopted by the Bloomington City Council. The city's plan commission will conduct another review of the proposed plan on June 26, at 5:30 p.m. in the city council chambers, before the process continues with a city council review.
"I think this is the most important language that we’re considering as part of this process," said Darryl Neher, vice president of the plan commission. "This initiates a conversation that is long overdue."
Hoffmann brought forth a related amendment to strike a balance between shaping student housing development and addressing a need to keep up with the growing student population. That amendment says that until such time as a reasonable balance of different housing types is achieved in the downtown and nearby areas, city officials strongly discourage new student oriented housing developments in these areas.