Peoples State Bank is planning to build a new headquarters building in Bloomington at the intersection of College Avenue and 17th Street.
Currently, the company has a branch on the property, which used to be a Pepsi bottling factory. Peoples State Bank is proposing to replace the branch with a 34,000 square foot office building and 58 off-street parking spaces.
The Bloomington Board of Zoning Appeals approved three variances for the project Thursday. Property owners said they would have considered moving the development outside city limits if not successful. Bloomington Plan Commission must approve the project July 11.
In one of the three variances, Peoples Bank needed to convince the board to allow a driveway on 17th Street. City staff recommended the site only have one access point on Woodburn Avenue given the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO) calls for driveways on the least traveled road.
However, the board noted that Woodburn Avenue is a residential road, whereas 17 th Street and College Avenue are commercial roads.
“The UDO would really have allowed the development of the access point from Seventeenth [Street] based on only looking at the commercial streets,” board member Jo Throckmorton said.
“This is also a bank, so it should have two different entrances because of the drive thru, for safety,” board member Flavia Burrell said.
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Board member Tim Ballard said bottlenecking traffic to Woodburn Avenue has detrimental impact on the property owners on the road.
“If I lived on that street in that area, I would very much be adamant that would have a negative impact on the value of my property,” Ballard said.
The project is on plan commission’s schedule for a public hearing at 5:30 p.m. July 11 in city hall.
