The Bloomington City Council moved forward with staff recommendations to allow permanent remote airport parking in the South Loop district during a study meeting Monday evening.

City planning staff presented findings from their airport parking study, recommending that existing facilities Park and Go and Park and Fly be allowed to operate permanently through conditional use permits rather than the current temporary interim use permits. The approach would also allow remote airport parking within existing parking structures, such as at Mall of America.

"We're trying to find a middle ground that allows permanent remote airport parking but still allows the possibility for implementing the vision of the comprehensive plan," said Planning Manager Michael Centinario.

The study examined two main remote airport parking facilities: Park and Go, operating since 1992 with about 1,500 stalls, and Park and Fly, operating since 1988 with over 2,000 stalls across surface lots and a parking structure. Both facilities have operated under interim use permits that were set to expire, but a moratorium imposed last year suspended enforcement.

Council members generally supported the staff recommendation but raised questions about performance standards, including whether to require structured parking instead of surface lots and how to balance business operations with the district's transit-oriented development goals. The council also discussed allowing hotel airport parking as a permitted accessory use, acknowledging it has operated informally for years despite current code restrictions.