By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
A zoning request for a new 288-unit apartment complex squeaked by the Bowling Green Planning Commission Wednesday evening.
By a vote of 4-3, the commission recommended that the change from A-1 agricultural to R-4 residential be approved. That recommendation will now go to City Council – accompanied by a request that council members read planning commission members’ concerns before they vote on the zoning request.
The request was made by Whitson Properties LLC, the owner of the 20.7 acres on the east side of South Dunbridge Road, south of East Wooster Street. Whitson Properties is the same company that asked for 18.3 acres just to the south of this property to be rezoned for a senior living facility. Construction has begun on that project.
Very few details were presented to the city’s planning department about the new request, said Planning Director Heather Sayler.
Sayler said her office could not make a well-informed recommendation on the zoning request, since so little information was submitted.
“It’s been a little bit challenging to review this one,” she told the planning commission.
Sayler did, however, note that the site had access to all the necessary utilities, and that the city frequently gets complaints about the lack of housing options.
“The city often hears that there’s a critical need,” Sayler said.
However, she also noted that the city’s land use plan calls for light manufacturing in the area of the proposed apartment complex. Property across the road from the Whitson acreage is already zoned for business park uses.
Sayler also said that R-4 multi-family residential zoning is used so infrequently in the city that the updated zoning code may no longer include that classification.
Since the application included so few details, planning commission members asked Nathan Waggner, of Cash Waggner and Associates engineering firm, to fill in the blanks.
The property would be developed by Management Resources Development, of East Lansing, Michigan, he said. According to the company’s website, it manages apartment complexes in 11 states, with 76 in Michigan alone.
The apartment complex would not be subsidized housing, Waggner said. Its target market would be professionals or transient workers.
“It’s not student housing,” he told the planning commission. “It’s more of young professionals, who want to live in town.”
The complex would include eight buildings of three stories – with a total of 288 units. For comparison, the Copper Beach apartment complex to the south is zoned R-3 and has about 200 units.
The apartment units would have two bedrooms. “Three bedrooms invites multiple families,” Waggner said.
Management Resources Development has done market research that shows such housing is needed in the Bowling Green area, he said.
“I think there’s a market here, as well as a market to draw people in from outside,” Waggner said. He explained that the developer did look at other sites in the city, but this was the only acreage available for the project.
“I understand the need for this type of housing,” said planning commission member Judy Ennis. However, she voiced her concern that the zoning change did not match with the land use plan recommendation.
Commission member Nathaniel Spitler shared a similar concern.
“The only concern I have is the location. Is that the spot we want to put this?” Spitler said, mentioning the mix of zoning uses popping up along South Dunbridge Road. “It’s just a jumbled mess to me.”
But commission member Tom Stalter talked about the need for such housing projects.
“Several thousand good paying jobs are coming to Wood County, and we don’t have enough housing in Wood County,” Stalter said. “Bowling Green is the perfect place.”
Commission member Abhishek Bhati agreed that Bowling Green has a shortage of housing for working professionals.
Waggner said the apartment complex would be a good addition to the other land uses on South Dunbridge Road.
“We are a good buffer between commercial and a nursing home,” he said.
The project would not be received well in a single-family residential area, Waggner said.
“They’re going to throw up their arms if we propose something in their neighborhoods,” he said.
Commission member Will Airhart voiced his reservations about the zoning change – especially given the few details in the application.
“I really don’t like how isolated this feels,” he said. “We don’t have a lot to go on. We can punt to City Council,” but that would be neglecting the duty of the planning commission, he said.
“This is a corridor that could go a lot of different ways in the next few years,” Airhart added.
Commission Chairman Bob McOmber acknowledged that the zoning change would not be consistent with the city’s land use plan – but he also recognized the need for more housing in Bowling Green.
“I think an apartment there could be successful,” McOmber said.
Voting in favor of the zoning change were McOmber, Bhati, Stalter and Joe Phillips. Voting against were Airhart, Ennis and Spitler. Absent were Mark Remeis and Erica Sleek.
The zoning issue will now go to City Council for a vote.
