Should the Near West Side become a Historic District?

1. Conservation or
Historic District
To Elevate or Not?
Near West Side
Neighborhood Association

2. What’s Going On?
● Near West Side was designated
a Conservation District as of
December 4, 2019
● Under state law, a Conservation
District elevates to a Historic
District after three years,
unless majority of property
owners object
● We need to decide: To elevate
or not to elevate

3. What is Designation?
● Protected status for the
neighborhood
○ Recognizes and preserves
unique historic and
architectural values
○ Restricts some changes to
houses -- New construction,
partial or full teardowns,
moves, some kinds of exterior
renovations

4. What does “Restricts” Mean?
● Every new project in a Conservation or Historic District requires a Certificate of
Appropriateness from the Historic Preservation Commission (HPC)
● District has Neighborhood Design Guidelines, drafted by and for NWS property owners
● Neighborhood Design Review Committee (volunteers coordinated by the
Neighborhood Association) reviews each new proposal for development in the NWS,
using the Guidelines as standard of appropriateness for the district
Design Review Committee advises the HPC on whether to grant a CoA for
the project; HPC generally honors that advice.

5. Two Kinds of Designation
● Conservation District
○ Restricts new construction, moves or teardowns
● Full Historic Designation
○ Restricts new construction, moves, teardowns or some exterior renovations (alterations
to street-facing exterior surfaces of “contributing” houses)
■ Guidelines can be strict or lenient -- it’s the neighborhood’s choice
■ Guidelines must meet certain minimum requirements set by the HPC
Conservation District is less restrictive.
But converts automatically to Historic three years after adoption
unless majority of neighborhood votes to keep it.

6. How Did We Get
Here?
The Back Story
Near West Side
Neighborhood Association

7. Who Brought About Designation of the NWS?
● Committee started by members of the Near West Side Neighborhood
Association
○ Committee revived from an earlier effort
○ Members included both proponents and skeptics
● A majority (60%+) of neighbors who voted in a special neighborhood
election to decide on designation
○ Strong majority favored designation
○ Slight majority preferred Conservation District over Full Historic designation
● Bloomington’s City Council, by 9-0 vote

8. Why Did We Do This?
● Neighborhood Integrity
○ The Near West Side has unique
history and characteristic
architecture
○ Properties in historic districts
tend to appreciate in value as a
result*
* Jeff Goldin, Chairman, Bloomington
Historic Preservation Commission

9. Why Did We Do This?
● Protection from overdevelopment
○ We needed defense against the City’s upzoning plans, which threatened to urbanize the
neighborhood, increasing density and putting stress on the neighborhood’s
infrastructure, and result in teardowns of historic houses
■ The UDO revisions would eliminate zoning for single-family houses
■ Upzoning would mean many more market-rate apartments, cars, HVAC units, etc.
■ Designation is the ONLY legal protection available against overdevelopment
We were the only West Side core neighborhood
without the protection of Conservation or Historic Designation.

10. Now What?
To Elevate or Not?
Near West Side
Neighborhood Association

11. Why Might We Want to Elevate?
● Greater protection for the neighborhood’s unique heritage
○ Architectural
○ Cultural/historical
● Defense against the City’s urbanization plans for the core neighborhoods
○ New duplexes are coming; design choices can mitigate the worst aspects of densification
○ Unclear that Conservation District provides effective regulation of duplex conversions
● Economics
○ Maintain scale of our already dense neighborhood; prevent an influx of oversized,
overpriced houses in one of Bloomington’s last areas of small, relatively affordable home
ownership opportunities

12. Why Might We NOT Want to Elevate?
● Restrictions on changes to the exteriors of houses
○ Some neighborhoods have been quite restrictive; we don’t have to be
■ Our guidelines, our choice
○ HPC tends to care most about windows (need to be consistent with existing types) --
mostly dimensions. Guidelines can restrict types/materials, but don’t have to
○ Concern that Guidelines could make upkeep more expensive
○ Some people just don’t want rules -- any new rules

13. Timeline for Deciding on Elevation
Dec. 4, 2019: City
Council approves
NWS Conservation
District
June 7, 2022: First
day NWS property
owners can submit
objections to
elevation
Oct. 5, 2022: Last
day NWS property
owners can submit
objections to
elevation
Dec. 4, 2022: NWS
Elevates (or doesn’t
if >51% of property
owners object)
City-run vote on
elevation

14. We Still Have Lots of Questions
● How does an owner craft an objection?
● How will the vote be conducted? Who in
city government will conduct it?
● What is a majority – 51% of what? (What if a
property has multiple owners?)
● Who reports the result to the
neighborhood?
Bear with us – we’ll have answers before
June 7.

15. Your Voice WILL Be Heard
● Stay up to date on developments re: Elevation
○ Attend Near West Side Neighborhood Association meetings
○ Watch for announcements in emails and on Facebook (Near West Side Neighbors group)
○ Attend special informational webinars (tba)
If you own Near West Side property (even if you don’t live in it), make
sure the neighborhood association has your contact information.
● When the poll is taken, be sure to vote.
○ If you don’t vote, you will have effectively voted for elevation.

16. Stay Tuned.
More information to come.
Near West Side
Neighborhood Association