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Council approves alley vacation to enable Trades District hotel after debate on public right-of-way (7–1)
Summary
Council adopted ordinance 20-25-16, with a unanimous procedural amendment, to vacate a 20-foot alley segment in the Trades District to enable a proposed 150‑room boutique hotel and related site changes; council conditioned approval on future dedication of an east–west alley connection as part of site plan approval.
The Bloomington Common Council voted 7–1 on May 7 to approve ordinance 20-25-16, vacating a 20-foot alley segment in the Trades District to facilitate development of a Trades District hotel. An amendment correcting a typographical date (Amendment 1) passed unanimously before the ordinance vote.
Developer representative John Fernandez, speaking for The Mill and the development team, said vacating the platted but unused alley will allow "a much more effective design" that improves street activation on 10th and Madison Streets and accommodates hotel circulation. Fernandez said the alley as platted "has never existed" and does not connect to a network of alleys.
Council members debated public-value tradeoffs. Council member Flaherty said vacating right-of-way is permanently "giving up a public benefit" and said he would not support the ordinance; Flaherty voted no in the roll call. Planning Director David Hill confirmed the city’s recommendation conditions approval on providing an east–west alley to connect the remaining north–south alley to Madison Street so the result would not create a dead-end alley.
Council member Piedmont Smith and others said preliminary design commitments and a future site-plan requirement to dedicate new right-of-way make the proposal acceptable. Public comments from the Greater Bloomington Chamber expressed support for the vacation, calling it a project that would "unlock" a boutique hotel and energize the Trades District.
The amended ordinance passed on a roll call with votes recorded as: Ruff — yes; Rallo — yes; Piedmont Smith — yes; Stasberg — yes; Daley — yes; Rosenberger — yes; Asari — yes; Flaherty — no (result 7–1). The council clerk recorded the outcome as adoption of ordinance 20-25-16 as amended.
Next steps: developers must return during site-plan approval to dedicate the new right-of-way as a condition of project approval and the city will monitor that the dedicated east–west alley meets connectivity requirements.
