Small Business Codes and Processes

The Small Business Codes and Processes project aims to support small business by evaluating a range of City Code standards. Topics or standards to be included for evaluation include exterior materials, off-street parking requirements, refuse and recycling storage standards, odor control, rooftop equipment screening, and grease interception. Links to these Code standards are provided in the important links tab on the right side of the page.

There may be an opportunity to raise additional topics or questions that could be explored as part of future projects. If you have suggestions for City staff, please contact the project team members directly. You can also post questions or comments in the Q&A tool below. Staff will respond to these questions and comments at our earliest convenience.

Staff presented preliminary findings and recommendations for the project as study items at both the December 19th, 2024 Planning Commission meeting and January 5th, 2025 City Council meeting. Project documents from these meetings that outline these recommendations can be downloaded in the Project Documents tab on the right side of the project page.

Next steps for the project involve the drafting of ordinances based on the guidance of the Planning Commission and City Council. City staff will post draft ordinances on the project page as soon as they are available for review.

Public hearings were held to formally consider the Phase I Ordinance. The Phase I Ordinance included changes to standards related to exterior building materials, odor mitigation, rooftop equipment screening, and off-street parking. The Phase I Ordinance and associated staff report is attached in the project documents tab on the right side of the project page. The Phase I Ordinance was adopted by City Council on June 2, 2025.

Future consideration of a Phase II Ordinance, focused on refuse and recycling storage standards, is currently underway. Study sessions with the Planning Commission and City Council were completed in August and September. Staff is now preparing an ordinance and scheduling public hearings to execute the direction provided by these decision makers. The public hearing at the Planning Commission is scheduled for November 6, 2025. The City Council public hearing is anticipated to be held on December 8, 2025. The Study Session materials for Phase II are available in the documents tab on the right side of the page.

Decision Statement: To support small business development in Bloomington by identifying and evaluating barriers to small business creation and operation, and exploring pathways to lower these barriers, while also improving upon education to the business community on city code standards and approval procedures.

Promise to the Public: We will keep stakeholders informed, listen to, acknowledge and research concerns, and provide feedback on how issues were evaluated and prioritized. We will also provide updates on key actions and changes to codes and polices that resulted from community input.