Draft Comprehensive Master Plan For Bloomington Available For Review And Input

Last updated on Tuesday, April 11, 2017

(BLOOMINGTON) - The Bloomington Plan Commission will be holding a series of hearings to discuss and eventually adopt a new Comprehensive Master Plan (CMP) for the City of Bloomington.

The Draft Plan is available in the Planning & Transportation Department office, the Indiana Room at Monroe County Public Library, and online at bloomington.in.gov/cmp.

Release of the draft Comprehensive Master Plan follows six years of public input. In 2011 the Planning Department began gathering public input through a series of meetings, events and online comments, information from neighborhood associations, key stakeholders, groups and organizations and the general public. Based on this public input and information gathered by the Planning Department, the City of Bloomington Common Council approved a Vision Statement for the plan in 2013. Since 2013 the plan has been in the document development stage.

According to Mayor John Hamilton, "The Comprehensive Master Plan is so important - it provides a roadmap for the future development of Bloomington. We restarted the CMP development process early in my administration by reviewing and updating the plan so the document accurately reflected current community conditions, recent input and new challenges. Hundreds of residents have weighed in to make this a thoughtful, well-considered document. Once the final public input and fine tuning is complete, we will have a workable plan that will guide our decisions about what our city will look and feel like until the next update is completed."

A series of hearings on the CMP have been scheduled as follows:

Monday, April 17 (5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, City Hall) - Introduction of the plan review process (not a full hearing or presentation - no public comment taken at this meeting)
Thursday, April 20 (5:30 p.m., Utilities Board Room, 600 E. Miller Dr.) - Full presentation of the Draft Plan, including opportunity for Plan Commissioners and the public to ask questions of staff
Monday, April 24 (5:30 p.m., Council Chambers, City Hall) - Plan Commission consideration of (and action on) proposed amendments to the Draft Plan, including opportunity for the public to comment on proposed amendments
Tuesday, April 25 (6:00 p.m., Council Chambers, City Hall) - Plan Commission consideration of (and action on) proposed amendments to the Draft Plan, including opportunity for the public to comment on proposed amendments
Monday, May 1 (5:30 p.m., Nat U Hill Room, County Courthouse) - Plan Commission consideration of (and action on) any further changes to the Draft Plan, including opportunity for the public to suggest/comment on any final changes
Thursday, May 4 (5:30 PM, Nat U Hill Room, County Courthouse) - Plan Commission adoption of the Draft Plan, as amended at previous hearings - no further changes will be considered at this hearing, only an up or down vote on the Draft Plan as a whole, including opportunity for public to comment on adoption of the Draft Plan as amended

The amendment process for the CMP will be as follows:

Plan Commissioners and members of the public may submit written amendment proposals to the Planning & Transportation Department (directed to Scott Robinson at robinsos@bloomington.in.gov) beginning on Monday, April 10.
All proposed amendments must be submitted by 4:00 p.m. on Friday, April 21, so that staff can prepare them for consideration by the Plan Commission beginning on Monday, April 24.
Any amendment submitted by a member of the public must be sponsored by a Plan Commission member in order to be considered by the Plan Commission at the hearings
Prior to April 24, Plan Commissioners will have an opportunity to review all amendments submitted by the public and choose which ones they'd like to bring forward for consideration.
Staff will post to bloomington.in.gov/cmp an agenda listing which amendments are being considered prior to the meetings on April 24 and 25, and May 1 if necessary.
Any submitted amendments that are not considered by the Plan Commission, or are considered but not adopted, may be brought forward during the Common Council adoption process that will follow the Plan Commission adoption on Thursday, May 4.

1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com

Click here to go back to previous page