A group seeking to turn the Green Acres neighborhood, located directly east of IU’s campus, into a historic conservation district withdrew its application Monday, the B Square Bulletin first reported.
Lois Sabo-Skelton, chair of the Green Acres Conservation District Development Committee, said in a letter to city council that they were withdrawing in a “strategic step to ensure that we can ultimately protect our neighborhood.”
The battle to designate the neighborhood as a historic conservation district began after a proposal in May called to demolish five homes along North Jefferson Street, potentially for redevelopment as low-density student housing. The area is located about two blocks east of Union Street Center.
The item still appears on Tuesday’s city council meeting agenda. The designation doesn’t have much support among council members, a fact the letter acknowledged.
It’s unclear what will happen to the issue at the council’s meeting, but there will likely need to be decisions on interim protection added to the neighborhood this summer. The interim protection holds until a decision adopts or rejects the historic protection ordinance.
A map of the Green Acres District is seen in the Bloomington City Council's Legislative Packet for its meeting Oct. 1, 2024.
That interim protection covers more than 400 homes. In a conservation district, actions such as moving, demolishing or constructing buildings require approval by the Bloomington Historic Preservation Commission.
Despite pulling their application, supporters of protections for the neighborhood say they will fight on.
“Please know that we will be back, and we remain hopeful that future discussions will lead to a positive outcome for the Green Acres Neighborhood,” Sabo-Skelton wrote in the letter.
