The Monroe County Plan Commission recommended zoning changes to promote single-family over multi-family homes in west Bloomington.
By a 6-2 vote Tuesday, the commission supported rezoning more than 200 properties in the Sunset Hill and Maple Grove Baby Farms neighborhoods from “High Development” to “Residential 1.”
It’s a familiar issue in Bloomington — preserving neighborhood character versus landowner discretion and development that would increase the number of people in a neighborhood.
Plan commission president Margaret Clements voted in favor of a positive recommendation.
“I mean, we’ve been building almost everything but single-family homes,” Clements said. “So, I think there’s something to preserve. It’s a way of life.”
Commission member Julie Thomas said rezoning would maintain the area’s history and character.
Trohn Enright-Randolph voted against a positive recommendation. He said residents could face challenges when developing their own land.
“You might end up in the situation where it does create a practical difficulty or onerous burden, and all you want to do is something very simple,” Enright-Randolph said.
New county plan commission member David Henry, who also serves on the Monroe County Council, voted against a positive recommendation. He is concerned that the rezone process may be moving too quickly, and the commission may not be exploring all rezoning options.
Related: Small towns in Indiana fight to keep dollar stores out
Opponents of the proposal have also said prohibiting multi-family units will make the county’s affordable housing problem worse.
The issue now goes to the County Commissioners, which will take the plan commission’s recommendation into consideration when voting on the proposal.
This is how members of the plan commission voted:
- Margaret Clements – Yes
- Julie Thomas – Yes
- Edward Oehlman – Absent
- Scott Faris – Yes
- Geoff Morris – Yes
- David Busch – Yes
- Rudy Fields – Yes
- David Henry – No
- Trohn Enright-Randolph - No