By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Applebee’s Neighborhood Grill & Bar is interested in making Bowling Green its new neighbor.
The casual dining restaurant has requested a variance from the city’s Zoning Board of Appeals to allow more parking spots than now permitted at a site at 1175 S. Main St., near Home Depot on the south edge of the city.
“The city has definitely been in communication” with representatives of Applebee’s, said Bowling Green Mayor Dick Edwards. The city’s planning director, Heather Sayler, has been working with an Applebee’s representative to find a location for the restaurant, he said.
“They definitely have been showing interest,” the mayor said Friday evening.
“They were looking at different sites,” specifically along East Wooster Street near Interstate 75, Edwards said. But the restaurant chain seemed more interested in the South Main Street location, closer to U.S. 6 traffic.
Edwards said he knows few details right now, with most of the discussions taking place between intermediaries.
“It certainly piques my interest,” the mayor said, explaining that Applebee’s is a standby for some travelers. “As we travel around, we often stop there.”
The arrival of an Applebee’s in Bowling Green could end the drought of chain restaurants building in the city. And it could quiet the claims that city officials won’t allow chains to locate in Bowling Green since chains might draw business from locally-owned establishments – a charge that the mayor denies.
“There’s been no effort by the city to keep out chain restaurants,” Edwards said. “In fact, it’s been quite the opposite.”
“Quite the contrary,” he said, explaining that Bowling Green is stuck in a “peculiar web” between Findlay, Perrysburg and Toledo. “And that’s what they look at,” often overlooking Bowling Green.
Edwards also mentioned that the city values its locally-owned restaurants. “We cherish those establishments,” he said.
Applebee’s variance request will be heard by the Zoning Board of Appeals on July 13, at 7 p.m., in the city council chambers at 304 N. Church St. The request seeks a variance to allow 11 parking spaces that will encroach 5 feet into the required 5-foot setback to the north and east.
