Tracee Lutes, representing the Bloomington Board of Realtors describes inaccuracies in the land plan data found during a review by outside experts in land planning. Read More->
It appears a time line for approval of Monroe County’s draft comprehensive land use plan will be extended to allow more public comment and revisions.
At Thursday night’s plan commission work session, which continued past deadline, nearly all commission members said they agreed a complicated formula that determines density allocation for developable property should likely come out of the draft plan, which is considered a guiding document.
Rather, they said, such a specific tool should be included in an appendix to the draft plan or even in a future zoning ordinance. In addition, commission members discussed delaying their vote on the document. Where before they’d talked about approving the plan by the end of the year, a proposed new process includes accepting additional public comment at a Nov. 17 meeting, discussing and considering public comment at a Dec. 10 work session, offering and voting on amendments at a Dec. 15 meeting, then republishing an updated version of the draft plan and hosting weekly meetings that would go through the text, section by section, sometime in January. Read More->
This guest column is by Tracee Lutes, 2011 president of the Bloomington Board of Realtors.
The Bloomington Board of Realtors supports the need for land use planning, recognizing that proper planning often leads to sustainable property values. The process of planning for future land use is critical and it seems elementary that such a plan should be based on good data. The current version of the proposed Monroe County Comprehensive Land Use Plan generates cause for concern.
Several graphs included in the plan that do not appear to be supported by data are included without explanation or context, or appear to misconstrue data. Most notable is the graph depicting population growth. The axis representing time uses an inconsistent scale. Years 1900 through 2000 are graphed at 20-year increments. Mid-chart, years 2000 through 2008 are graphed at two-year increments. Subsequently the period of projected future growth switches back to a 20-year increment.
This inconsistency visually suggests a rapid growth from 1900 to 2000 and then a leveling out in recent years. According to the graph data, we note that the creation of the plan is based on a projected population of 142,000 people in 2040. The 2010 Census shows a population of approximately 138,000; population grew by 18,000 over the past 10 years, with 9,000 of those people coming in the past two years. Does it seem realistic to develop a plan based on growth of a mere 4,000 people over the next 30 years? A sustainable community will be difficult to achieve if we plan the future use of our land based on incomplete and misleading depictions of growth patterns. Read More->
Business briefcase: From H-T Reports Tracee Lutes was named Realtor of the Year by the Bloomington Board of Realtors. Lutes opened her own Avenues Realty Group agency in January. She has served locally as president of the Bloomington MLS Inc., where she and a team of realtors enhanced the multiple listing service, or MLS, which lists homes for sale online.
NEW ALBANY – Regional business leaders and local representative in Congress believe the economic downturn has leveled nationally and regionally but said the positive signs are fragile. They shared their comments during the Southern Indiana Economic Forum hosted by U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, D-Ind. The event Friday at Indiana University Southeast featured panel discussions on health care, the southern Indiana economy and energy.
“I do believe that the economy has finally bottomed out. There are a lot of indicators that says it has,” Hill said. “I noticed last week that home sales are on the rise. The most encouraging thing I saw was that an RV plant in Goshen was adding 55 jobs to their work force.”
Ben Mascarello, vice president of operations for Hilex Poly Co. in North Vernon, said his company has enjoyed a stable year.
Hilex, which employs 280 in North Vernon, makes thin plastic films. Its main product is plastic shopping bags.
“As the economy goes bad, people shop more at the grocery store and go out to dinner less,” Mascarello said.
Joe Craig, general manager Craig Buick in Madison, said the Cash for Clunkers program provided a boost in sales. People are buying more fuel-efficient cars, and many are reducing the number of vehicles they own. Read More->
If you want to get into Wednesday’s town hall meeting on health care with U.S. Rep. Baron Hill, you might want to get there early. Admission to the meeting, scheduled for 6 to 7 p.m. in Bloomington High School North’s auditorium, will be on a first-come, first-served basis. The total number of people allowed into the auditorium will be determined by the fire code capacity — 998, or 971 if people in wheelchairs are present.
At Hill’s Monday night health care reform town hall meeting in New Albany, people started lining up outside the massive conference room at 2:30 p.m.— four hours before the hour long event was scheduled to begin. Read More->
