A homeowner who waited seven months for water and sewer sign-off on a duplex project was among the speakers at a special Bloomington Plan Commission hearing last week, held because a new Indiana law requires every city, town and county to take a hard look at its own rules for building housing (via The B Square Bulletin).
The Oct. 28 hearing reviewed the city's Unified Development Ordinance, its zoning and development code. No vote was required. Under the law, the hearing and a report to the state are what count.
The requirement comes from House Enrolled Act 1001, passed in the 2026 session. It directs local units to hold a public hearing reviewing their development code no later than Jan. 1, 2027, and to submit a report to the executive director of the Legislative Services Agency by the same date (Indiana General Assembly). The list of things to review reads like a builder's wish list: duplexes through fourplexes in single-family areas, ADUs, manufactured and modular homes, commercial-to-residential conversions, and waiving or cutting rules on garage size, roof pitch, minimum lot size, setbacks, off-street parking and height. It also calls for looking at one-stop and parallel permitting aimed at cutting review times by at least 15 days.
The state's housing agency, IHCDA, is collecting the reports through an online portal that closes Dec. 31, 2026, and annual housing progress reports start in January 2027 (IHCDA). Gov. Mike Braun ceremonially signed the bill in April, saying that cutting red tape and making it easier to build will help more Hoosiers buy homes (State of Indiana).
Sue McCracken, who lives in the Bryan Park neighborhood, described waiting seven months for water and sewer approval while adding an attached unit behind her house. She plans to live in one side and rent the other, and said the process favors investors. "If I wasn't partly retired, I might have given up," she said.
Emerson Oronte, who's planning an outdoor sauna on 6th Street, said site-compliance costs on his project ran about $20,000, including $6,000 to $7,000 for required bike parking. He suggested shared public bike racks near the B-Line Trail instead.
Planning consultant Deborah Myerson pushed for predictable deadlines, departments reviewing plans at the same time and pre-approved house plans. "The zoning determines what's allowed. The review process determines what actually gets built," she said. Kari Bennett of Habitat for Humanity of Monroe County backed smaller lots that spread land and infrastructure costs over more homes. Not everyone agreed; a few residents worried about larger rentals replacing older, smaller homes.
City development services manager Eric Greulich said the code already allows ADUs, duplexes, small multifamily and residential conversions of commercial space, has no minimum garage sizes or floor-area limits, and already covers about 70% of the state's list. He said work is underway to let staff approve more projects without board hearings.
Bloomington's council has already moved. In September it passed citywide changes 5-3 that eliminated minimum car parking, cut minimum lot sizes and widths, and eased setbacks, while keeping bicycle parking minimums (The B Square Bulletin).
Next up is Ordinance 2026-31, which the Plan Commission recommended 5-0 on Oct. 12 (The Bloomingtonian). It would allow attached ADUs up to 1,000 square feet and detached ADUs up to 1,000 square feet or 75% of the main house, whichever is smaller. It would also drop the 15-per-year cap on duplex approvals and the 150-foot buffer, raise cottage-development density and loosen entrance rules on triplexes and fourplexes. It's on the council's Nov. 4 agenda for first reading (City of Bloomington).
Why it matters for Contractors
If you build small in Bloomington, this is mostly good news. Bigger ADUs, no annual duplex cap and no car parking minimums open up infill and backyard projects that didn't pencil before. Those are exactly the jobs a small builder or remodeler can take on.
The testimony is also a reminder that zoning is only half the battle. Water and sewer approvals, site-compliance items and review timelines can eat months and thousands of dollars. Build that into your schedules and quotes, and ask the city early what a project will trigger.
And this isn't just Bloomington. Every Indiana county, city and town that runs its own zoning has to hold this hearing before the end of the year. If your local hearing hasn't happened yet, that's your chance to tell officials, with specifics, what's slowing your jobs down.