Zoning

Bloomington's first zoning ordinance was passed in 1942. It created three zones:

• Residential
• Business
• Unrestricted

Ordinance No. 2 of 1947 replaced the original map with one revised by the Planning Commission in February of 1947. The zoning map associated with that 1947 ordinance, as revised, is available at the National Archives, ​having been used by the Census Bureau for use in defining enumeration districts for the 1950 census.

The 1942 ordinance was repealed and replaced by an new ordinance in 1950. A zoning map associated with that ordinance is available at the Hathi Trust as a planning document prepared by consultant Kenneth L. Schellie in 1951. The ordinance created eight zones:

• R-1 One Family
• R-2 Two Family
• R-3 Multiple Dwelling
• B-1 Limited Business
• B-2 Downtown Business
• B-3 General Business
• M-1 General Industrial
• M-2 Heavy Industrial

Ordinance No. 40 of 1968 created the R4 Mobile Home Park Zone.

Ordinance No. 3 of 1973 was a major rewrite of the zoning ordinance, now known as Title 20 of the Bloomington Municipal Code.

The map was amended by providing the following changes in zone names:

• A Agricultural Zone....................to RE Residential Estate Zone
• R-1 Single Family Zone..............to RS Single Dwelling Zone
• R-2 Duplex Zone........................to RM Moderate Density Multi-dwelling Zone
• R-3 Multiple Dwelling Zone..........to RH High Density Multidwelling Zone
• B-1 Limited Business Zone.........to BL Limited Business Zone
• B-2 Downtown Business Zone.....to BD Downtown Business Zone
• B-3 General Business Zone.........to BG General Commercial Zone
• M-1 General Industrial Zone.........to ML Light Industrial Zone
• M-2 Heavy Industrial Zone...........to MG General Industrial Zone

The following new zones were created:

• RL - Low Density Multi-dwelling Zone
• BA - Arterial Business Zone
• BI - Institutional Business Zone
• MQ - Quarry Zone
• SC - Special Conservancy Zone
• SI - Specia1 Institutional Zone
• SM - Special Medical Zone

The following zone was repealed:

• R4 Mobile Home Zone

Ordinance No. 21 of 1995 repealed the Zoning ordinance and the Planning ordinance (Titles 20 and 21) and created the following zoning districts and overlay districts:

• Estate Residential 2.5 (RE2.5)
• Estate Residential 1 (RE1)
• Single Dwelling Residential 2 (RS2)
• Single Dwelling Residential 3.5 (RS3.5)
• Single Dwelling Residential 4.5 (RS4.5)
• Townhouse Residential 7 (RT7)
• Multi Dwelling Residential 7 (RM7)
• Multi Dwelling Residential 15 (RM 15)
• Limited Commercial (CL)
• General Commercial (CG)
• Arterial Commercial (CA)
• Downtown Commercial (CD)
• Special Industrial (IS)
• Limited Industrial (IL)
• General Industrial (IG)
• Business Park (BP)
• Institutional (I)
• Medical (M)
• Airport (AP)
• Quarries (0)
• Planned Unit Development (PUD)
• Planned Residential Overlay 6 (PR06)
• Planned Residential Overlay 12 (PR012)
• Planned Residential Overlay 20 (PR020)
• Lake Watershed Overlay (LWO)
• Floodways Overlay (FO)
• Downtown Development Opportunity (DO)

Ordinance No. 24 of 2019 repealed and replaced Title 20, the Zoning code, again. Ordinance No. 6 of 2020 replaced the zoning map with a 'conversion zoning' map.

Residential

• RE - Residential Estate was not renamed
• RS - Residential Single-Family became R2 - Residential Medium Lot
• RC - Residential Core became R3 - Residential Small Lot
• RM - Residential Multifamily became RM - Residential Multifamily
• RH - Residential High-Density Multifamily was not renamed
• MH - Manufactured/Mobile Home Park became RMH - Manufactured/Mobile Home Park

Two new residential districts were created:

• R1 - Residential Large Lot
• R4 - Residential Urban

Mixed-Use

• CL - Commercial Limited became MN - Mixed-Use Neighborhood-Scale
• CG - Commercial General became MM - Mixed-Use Medium-Scale
• CA - Commercial Arterial became MC - Mixed-Use Corridor
• BP - Business Park became ME - Mixed-Use Employment
• IN - Institutional became MI - Mixed-Use Institutional
• CD - Commercial Downtown became MD - Mixed-Use Downtown
• MD - Medical became MH - Mixed-Use Healthcare

A new mixed used district was created:

• MS - Mixed-Use Student Housing

Nonresidential

• IG - Industrial General became EM - Employment
• QY - Quarry became EM - Employment

A new non-residential district was created

• PO – Parks and Open Space

Planned Development District

• PUD - Planned Unit Development PUD was not renamed

Overlay Zoning Districts

DCO - Downtown Character Overlay replaced the following six overlays.

• CSO - Courthouse Square
• DCO - Downtown Core Overlay
• UVO - University Village Overlay
• DEO - Downtown Edges Overlay
• DGO - Downtown Gateway Overlay
• STPO - Showers Technology Park Overlay