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Council postpones Curry PUD decision after debate over workforce housing payment-in-lieu
Summary
The Bloomington Common Council postponed action on a proposed PUD amendment at 105 S. Pete Ellis Drive after debate over replacing on-site workforce units with a payment-in-lieu. Staff and the petitioner will finalize zoning-commitment language; the item returns Feb. 5.
The Bloomington Common Council postponed consideration of an amendment to the Curry planned unit development that would allow the developer to meet its workforce-housing obligation by paying into a city fund instead of providing on-site units.
Jackie Scanlon, development services manager for Planning and Transportation, told the council the PUD originally required workforce housing equal to 15% of the unit-bedroom count (52 bedrooms) but that the petitioner proposed a payment approach: "$20,000 per bedroom for the same percentage bedroom count...that amount will be $1,040,000," Scanlon said. The Plan Commission forwarded the petition with conditions, including delegation of final plan approval to staff and a requirement that the petitioner record a zoning commitment approved by the Housing and Neighborhood Development (HAND) Department.
Tom Jason, representing SPCW Bloomington JV LLC, said the project opened in August 2023 and has struggled to lease the workforce-designated units. "Despite our best efforts in calendar year 2023, we only leased 17 of the 52 units," Jason said, and he described extensive marketing and efforts to lower AMI targets to boost occupancy.
Stephanie Lafontaine, affordable-housing program manager with HAND, said the city has seen mixed results on recent workforce-housing projects and emphasized that the Housing Development Fund directs locally controlled funds to deeper-affordability priorities such as tenant-based rental assistance and eviction-prevention pilots. She said the fund focuses on units at about 80% AMI and below.
Council members pressed for alternatives, asking whether the city could require fewer on-site units at deeper affordability levels rather than accepting a one-time payment. Scanlon and HAND staff said the original zoning commitment dates to preexisting PUD rules and can be difficult to enforce; city staff and legal counsel asked for more time to finalize the zoning-commitment language and associated contracts.
Council Member (mover) brought a motion to postpone Ordinance 2025-01 to the council's Feb. 5 regular meeting so attorneys and staff can resolve remaining edits. The postponement passed on a roll-call vote, 9–0.
The Curry amendment will return to the council Feb. 5 with the petitioner's agreement to preserve existing workforce leases for current tenants and finalized commitment language.
