Bloomington is dropping its eminent domain appeal and moving ahead with construction of the Fourth Street Garage at the existing site.
The city announced today it had withdrawn its Notice of Appealsto obtain the property at 222 South Walnut Street.
The city wanted to acquire the land, owned by realtor Juan Carlos Carrasquel, so it could expand the Fourth Street Parking Garage onto the site. Mayor John Hamilton says in a press release that he’s disappointed with the courts.
“The Monroe County Circuit Court failed to appreciate the public purpose of this project and the public value of this property, which is what eminent domain is designed to support,” Hamilton says.
Instead, the city will have to continue the project without the extra real estate. The city’s plan commission approved the project proposal two weeks ago.
The new garage will be a seven story structure with 537 parking spaces. The original plans had the garage only six stories, but without the extra land, the city has decided to make the structure taller.
In December 2019, a judge ruled the city couldn’t acquire Carrasquel’s property.
The city’s decision to drop the appeal comes after the Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA) approved two variances on the structure at its meeting Thursday night.
The BZA decision allows the parking garage’s entrance driveway to be wider than allowed by city code, and the driveway can be closer to Walnut Street than the code previously permitted.
The city says construction could begin as soon as August in order to meet its desired completion of Fall 2021.
