- Case Date:
- 8/12/2024
Opposing making Green Acres a Conservation District:
I am writing today as a member of the real estate community here in Bloomington having been an agent for close to a decade. I'm also writing from my experience as a commissioner of both the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals for the past several years.
I can very much value and appreciate the history and architectural history of the Green Acres neighborhood. I thank the residents who put in the work and told the story of how Green Acres has evolved from the beginning. Stories like these are worth telling and being displayed to the public as much as possible.
As far as the petition itself to deem Green Acres a conservation district leading to full fledged historic district designation, I believe is a very broad overreach of the intentions of historical preservation. Having lived several years in the Near West Side/Prospect Hill neighborhood as well as having owned several properties in historic neighborhoods in other cities I can speak to the impact of this type of designation personally as well.
Talking about a select handful of houses, which are notable and can be kept as such, and expanding that to include several hundred that have little to no historic significance is where the overreach comes into play. As a real estate agent and investor myself, I fully understand where many are coming from who oppose this broad reach.
The point of historic designation is to single out properties that carry a story all their own, not to lump an entire neighborhood, with a large rental population and no historical significance, and confine the expansion and development that is desperately needed to support a growing University and the city as a whole.
I've been a part of many discussions on the commissions which I serve about how we can balance preservation with expansion and development and I've seen cases where that blends very well together and is a win-win. This is not one of those cases but since it has been presented as such I'm strongly opposed to it. I believe the intentions are misguided and really crosses a line into government intrusion into the livelihood of many tax paying owners in that neighborhood who want to continue to house students and families at a time when more housing density, of any kind, is very much needed.
There are checks and balances in place already to prevent what many are referencing as the Kmart type development here and I fully support the expansion of this neighborhood. I think the goal here should be to keep the current historically significant houses in Green Acres just as they are and work to preserve other individual properties one at a time. Not taking a very broad stroke and misusing the point of preservation in the first place and thus bottlenecking an area ripe for future development.
Thank you for your time.
- Case Date:
- 8/27/2024
Call received to HAND from adjacent property owner. There is also a uReport under address 812 W 3rd that is duplicative.
People are living year-round in an RV parked on an unimproved surface at 220 S. Maple Street. They have been there for about 18 months. I previously reported them to H.AN.D. and the city's legal department. There are also 3-5 other cars parked in the small property lot at all times. The man is apparently fixing cars for others. Various articles and garbage bags are often strewn about. Their has been many domestic violence and nuisance reports to the police and fire department during this time.
- Case Date:
- 1/11/2023
There is a syringe along the road about half way between 6th and 7th on Oak street. It is right across the street from the very large sycamore tree on the west side.
- Case Date:
- 10/3/2024
Dear Sir/Madam,
[ TO BE FORWARDED, only to the (Office of the Mayor)(s), (Bloomington,((IN)/Monroe Co.)), (in office(s):(year(s):(2020/'21)) onward(s); (yr. 2024(A.D)), (Special Assistant to the Mayor, (Mayor Kerry Thompson), ("Office") Telephone no. : 812-349-3406]
This is a letter of, ((formal) communication, only), (read:("Complaint"/"Concern")), for informing, Ms. Margaret VanSchaik, (Special Assistant to the Mayor), to contact St. Mark's ("U.M.C":(United Methodist Church)), (Church) office, (812) 332-5788, and possibly make arrangement(s) for (shipping/storage) of, my(personal) belonging(s), (initially, (stored) at the new(bldg./facility), ("I.R.A":( Indiana Recovery Alliance)), ("Far-Westside"), (Bloomington, ((IN)/Monroe Co.)), (since, as communicated , the time-limit of storage, (<1-2 month(s)),
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
Ms. Diya B.((email):diybhatt@indiana.edu))
- Case Date:
- 11/3/2024
Sunday afternoons, even in the downtown area, should be a chance the peaceful enjoyment the premises of one's own abode. Today, however, the noise from the sidewalk musicians who are somehow sponsored by the record store on the east side of Walnut just south of Sixth Street, makes any peaceful enjoyment impossible. I have my windows shut, even though I should be able to have them open on a day as warm as this, and even though the windows are shut, the noise is quite intrusive. Does Bloomington not have a prohibition against this kind of use of the public right of way? Don't you need a permit, or can any business just say: Hey come play the drums and electric guitar out in front of my shop? More maybe they do have a permit. If they do, they should post it so everyone can see that it is allowed. I understand a certain amount of weird noises are part and parcel of downtown living. But this seems like an abuse of the downtown public sphere. Thanks for whatever you are able to do to help make downtown Bloomington actually livable.
- Case Date:
- 3/28/2025
Stephen was asking about the city's response to Malibou house as he is a resident of the street on which one of their houses is located and expressed that he is already dealing with the effects of slummy properties, and this is making it much more difficult to deal with. He complained about noise, traffic, and the overall parking nightmare that has become of his culdesac.
- Case Date:
- 5/22/2024
Hello. The Mayor's bio lists serving on the Tithe Advisory Board. Can you provide information on what this is?
Other
2862 E Blue Ridge Dr
- Case Date:
- 4/11/2025
I'm inquiring regarding a fence my neighbor is erecting that is well over 6 feet at every post. If I was to dispute or request someone come out and inspect the fence, how would I go about doing that?
Please see the attached photos.
Thank you so much for your help!
Best wishes,
Keith
- Case Date:
- 4/21/2025
Last summer I contacted the city (Ureport case 192429) regarding city trees in my front yard (tulip poplar) that were infected by a "tulip tree scale" insect. I live in Tamarron and there are a number of other tulip poplar trees infected by the same bug. Haskell Smith said to contact him this spring to let him know and the city will treat the trees to keep them from dying. I do not want to loose these trees because they were finally growing and thriving. Thank you so much. Feel free to contact me 812-360-3096
- Case Date:
- 4/19/2025
Another dead rat. I am a 63 year resident at this address and only in the last five years have rats began appearing. Open composting by some neighbors has been a long time habit Ross Gay 316 S. Buckner is one loving the overgrowth same person owns the property behind me also with chickens it’s a rental overgrowth problem there I am a yearly complainer on that Davisson street address. I’m going to guess my outdoor cat fixed chipped and so forth brought this in the cat house. I’ve been finding two and three every year dead near my house where you see one rat I’m sure there is a whole colony somewhere. Would appreciate it if the city could check out this area of prospect Hill I’ve heard from other neighbors about the dead rat problem, and a few have saw the live ones. People also stack their firewood on the ground, giving them a nice little place to borrow under and build their colonies. I would appreciate hearing from someone soon about this. I consider this a health hazard.