Council approves historic district

The Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission won its petition to make McDoel Gardens the city's first historic conservation district. \nBut the attempt to hold the district together fractured the community.\nThe petition was passed by a vote of 6-3 in the city council meeting Wednesday, but not without a debate between supporters and those opposing the petition.\nDiscussion on the petition, which began at 8 p.m., continued until the early hours of the morning. The area being designated as a historic preservation district means the commission would have to approve any demolitions or relocations of houses or businesses, as well as any new construction in the district.\nNancy Hiestand, staff member with the Historic Preservation Commission, said during the past several years, the Bloomington Hospital, situated on the boundary of the proposed conservation district, had been expanding extensively. \n"The residents want to stabilize the neighborhood and favor the petition because they want to provide property owners basic protection of their rights without reducing the affordability," she said.\nThe area covered by the ordinance spans from West First and Wylie streets to the north, CSX railroad to the east, South Patterson Drive, the Indiana Railroad right-of-way and Rogers Street to the west and West Hillside Drive to the south. \nDistrict 5 Council Member David Sabbagh, who is the representative of the area in dispute, voted against the petition. Others who voted against the petition were District 4 Councilmen Jeffrey Willsey and District 2 Councilman Jason Banach. The issue had been discussed in the previous city council meeting two weeks ago; the vote had been 4-3-2. \nHiestand had to face several questions regarding procedure of the petition from the council and accusations from residents who were against it.\nWillsey asked whether an ad-hoc committee had been formed to discuss the proposal as it advanced and whether the members of the committee were all residents, which is required by law. He questioned whether Sabbagh had been invited to join the committee as it existed.\n"I had been kept informed about what was happening, but then so were many others who are here. I was not invited or even informed that I was expected to be part of any such committee," Sabbagh said.\nRobert Shaw, a Bloomington resident, echoed an earlier statement from the Nathan Hadley, who is the executive assistant for economic development to Mayor John Fernandez. He said the residents had not been given enough time to review things and arrive at a decision for themselves.\n"If the Mayor's office is not comfortable with it, why should we be? We do not trust the commission, it's as simple as that," Shaw said. \nMark Crain, vice president of the Bloomington Hospital, said the hospital's survival and efficiency depended on being able to expand. \n"We want the boundaries to be withdrawn from the area immediately adjacent to the hospital property, so that the possibility of further expansion for the hospital in the future remains open," he said.\nMcDoel Neighborhood Association supported the petition. \nJack Baker, an executive committee member, said they did not want to prevent change or development in the area. He said they want to slow down the rate of change and give residents a chance to preserve their neighborhood. \n"We are asking for a little more consideration than other districts, but it is not too much more," Baker said.\nChris Sturbaum, chairman of the Historic Preservation Commission, said the opposition was a purposeful attempt to mislead the people against what was "an attempt to protect, nurture and help a neighborhood." \nHe said the protest had been stirred up by people looking to serve their own interests or people who had been scared into believing what was not true.\nRoger Allen Hayes, another resident, protested that the petition and the subsequent procedures had not involved the people who lived there. \n"We want to preserve the neighborhood too, but we want the residents to be involved in the process," Hayes said, citing that more than half of the residents were against the proposed conservation district.