At the end of 2020, the League of Women Voters of Bloomington-Monroe County wrote to Mayor John Hamilton, the Common Council, and the Plan Commission urging a slower, more transparent, thoughtful, and considered process in evaluating the proposal of plexes in core neighborhoods.
Ann Birch, president of the League, called on the administration to involve all stakeholders and be consistent with decisions already made democratically, including respecting Bloomington’s 2018 Comprehensive Plan.
“The City’s recently proposed justification for increased density in core neighborhoods employs vague language and inexplicably ignores the Comprehensive Plan’s specific and repeated direction to avoid, to discourage, to hinder, and to reverse higher density housing in core neighborhoods,” Birch wrote in December. “Why is the City ignoring the clear directions of the Comprehensive Plan and the previously expressed will of the neighborhood residents? Why is there a rush to pass such a plan during a pandemic? Why is the City circumventing last year’s Common Council vote by promoting a plan similar to the one that the Council already rejected?”
The League “strongly urges a less rushed and more transparent, thoughtful, and considered process involving all stakeholders—one that is consistent with decisions already made through democratic procedures,” the letter concludes.
The Dissident Democrat 