Nearly 140 acres of land on Bloomington’s southwest side could become the site of up to 6,000 new housing units.
The Bloomington Plan Commission held an initial hearing Monday for a petition to rezone the property, which sits between South Weimer Road and RCA Community Park.
The petitioner, Sudbury Partners LLC, has proposed five neighborhoods, or development areas. According to its preliminary plan, each area is expected to be built separately over eight years.
Monday’s hearing was the first of at least two the plan commission is required to hold. Commission members did not determine whether the project should move forward.
They will later make a recommendation to the Bloomington City Council, which will have to give final approval for the plan to come to fruition.
Kelli Wesley, a board member of the Arbor Ridge Homeowners Association, spoke during the public comment section of the hearing. The Arbor Ridge condo community sits north of the proposed site.
Wesley said residents in the area have many questions and concerns about the proposed development.
“There’s lots of concerns about increased foot traffic and car traffic, and also the type of buildings that they’re planning on putting on the property,” Wesley said.
Sudbury’s plans include the possibility for building eight or more stories high that would overlook Arbor Ridge. Wesley said most residents do not support that idea and want the developer to build it elsewhere on the property.
“Some people are concerned that having that amount of density so close to us will just change the complexion of our neighborhood in a way that we will never get back the peaceful neighborhood that we have right now,” Wesley said.
Wesley said Arbor Ridge residents and others in the area are mainly concerned about Weimer Road’s ability to handle increased traffic.
“Right now, Weimer Road can barely handle the traffic that it has,” she said. “There’s a lot of questions about whether that is going to be able to take not just the increased traffic from once all that’s done, but also if it’s going to be able to accommodate construction traffic.”
The entrance to Weimer from West Bloomfield Road is also in bad shape, according to Wesley.
Wesley said the HOA plans to meet with the developer and its attorney at a regular board meeting next week.
“We have tried to keep open a line of communication,” she said. “It’s really important that everybody — whether they’re part of the board or they’re just part of the neighborhood — as we interact with them that it remains positive (and) calm. We don’t want anybody to say or do anything that is going to close down those lines of communication.”
The city also has questions about the project. In a memo to the plan commission, the city’s planning and transportation said it wants to work with the petitioner on overall concepts and design details.
“There will be changes and more details to discuss in the coming months, as the proposal is refined,” the memo states.
