Peak Oil Task Force Report - City of Bloomington - State of Indiana

3. Include plans for peak oil in the Unified Development Ordinance.
The GPP is the City’s guiding land‐use policy document. The Unified Development
Ordinance (UDO) implements the GPP. In contrast to the GPP, the UDO was drafted as peak
oil was entering City consciousness. Indeed,
many, if not most, of the changes
recommended here were already under‐way
in the very recent past as a result of responses
to rising fuel prices as well as suburban flight
and urban redevelopment.
Much of what Bloomington and Monroe
County recognize as their traditional and
historic neighborhoods – based on form and
not use – would actually be illegal to build
today in many areas. The City of Bloomington has already revised its zoning rules to place
more emphasis on form, but it can, and should, do more. Specifically, the City should
amend the UDO to address the following:
Report of the Bloomington Peak Oil Task Force
The picture above was featured in a March 2008 article in The
Atlantic entitled, “The Next Slum?” The article opened by
asserting that, “Fundamental changes in American life may
turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements.” 1
Similar structures can easily be found in Bloomington
subdivisions. Suzanne Dechillo, The New York Times/Redux
• Remove any residual impediments to micro­agriculture.
As is detailed in the Sustenance chapter, local food production will be a
critical component of post‐peak resiliency. The City Council took an
important step forward in fostering urban agriculture with its recent
amendment to the UDO, but the City can do more to make land use within the
city more farm friendly. Please see Sustenance chapter for detailed
recommendations.
• Encourage form­based rather than use­based development.
Use‐based development is essentially post WWII suburban development
where permitted land uses (residential, retail, employment) are the defining
characteristic of the zoning code. This encourages, indeed mandates,
separation of use, which in turns promotes dependence on the automobile.
Instead, encourage:
An even stronger commitment to compact, mixed‐use urban form;
Increased residential densities in the urban core;
Narrower streets;
Sustainable development;
Environmental integrity; and
Economic and cultural vibrancy
104