By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The need for housing in Bowling Green won out over the city’s land use plan Monday evening, when City Council voted 7-1 in favor of changing zoning to allow a 288-unit apartment complex on the east side of Interstate 75.
Questions were raised about the best use for the property and best location of the proposed apartments. But in the end, it was decided that if Bowling Green waited for the perfect proposal at the perfect location, the housing shortage problem would only get worse.
The lone dissenting vote came from Council President Mark Hollenbaugh, who said he agreed more housing was needed in Bowling Green. However, the city’s land use plans call for housing that is walkable from the downtown area.
Placement of an apartment complex on the other side of I-75 could have a “deleterious effect” on the city’s development plan, Hollenbaugh said.
Hollenbaugh also questioned the timing.
“I have reservations about changing the zoning in the middle of a zoning code update,” he said.
During a public hearing on the subject, a counter argument was made by Adam Skaff, a city employee who was speaking as a private citizen and homebuilder.
“For years we’ve lamented the fact there’s not more affordable housing,” said Skaff, who built five houses in Bowling Green last year.
In a community of 30,000 residents, there were just seven houses on the market Monday that didn’t have contingent offers or pending sales, he said.
Housing options are needed for people who can’t afford $300,000 houses, Skaff said.
“If someone wants to come here, why not encourage that,” he said, urging council to not let this be a development that gets away. “This is an opportunity for the community.”
The request to change the zoning from A-agricultural to R-4 residential 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.
The property would be developed by Management Resources Development, of East Lansing, Michigan. 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, according to Nathan Waggner, of Cash Waggner and Associates engineering firm. Its target market would be young professionals or transient workers.
“It’s not student housing,” he told the planning commission earlier this year. “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.
Waggoner said the developer did look at other sites in the city, but this was the only acreage available for the project.
In January, the zoning request for the apartment complex squeaked by the Bowling Green Planning Commission by a vote of 4-3.
Reservations were expressed about the few details presented about the project to the city’s planning department. Planning Director Heather Sayler said her office could not make a well-informed recommendation on the zoning request, since so little information was submitted on issues such as density, parking, screening and traffic.
Sayler noted that the city’s land use plan calls for light manufacturing in the area of the proposed apartment complex. She 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.
Prior to Monday’s City Council meeting, a public hearing on the zoning request was held by council’s Planning, Zoning and Economic Development Committee. During some pointed questions by council member Rachel Phipps, Sayler said she did not recall ever before not being able to make a recommendation on a zoning request since 2008 when she became planning director.
But Sayler also noted that the apartment complex could attract a needed workforce to the city, and could help fill the gap in housing options.
“The city often hears that we need more housing,” Sayler said, adding the current vacancy rate for rentals is 7 to 8%.
Phipps also pointed out that the city is in the middle of updating its zoning code. That process is expected to get rid of the R-4 zoning (which allows greater building height and denser lot coverage) being sought for the project, she said.
Waggner said the apartment complex would provide a good buffer between commercial or light industrial zoning and the senior living facility being built just south of the proposed apartments.
Waggner presented the council committee with a letter from the city of Dundee, Michigan, praising the apartment complexes in that city developed and operated by Management Resources Development.
The same company has a complex in Waterville, and is building complexes in Sylvania, Perrysburg Township and Oregon.
Brian McMahon, of Danberry National, spoke in favor of the project. As economic development has occurred in Northwest Ohio, the discussion turned to “where are we going to get the employees?” Then it shifted to, “where are we going to get the housing for employees,” he said.
“There’s a huge void in Northwest Ohio,” McMahon said.
The proposed complex on Dunbridge Road would be attractive to workers because of the easy access to I-75, the proximity to retail, and the safe location, he said.
McMahon also pointed out that the company is known for maintaining its properties. “They own, they don’t build and sell,” he said.
Skaff also talked about the need for housing for employees of Wood Bridge Business Park, located one block north on Dunbridge Road. He talked about shift change at one of the city’s largest employers, Vehtek, which results in a solid line of cars headed to I-75 from the business park.
“Here’s our chance,” to provide housing for those workers in Bowling Green, Skaff said.
The apartment complex could also lead to more commercial development on the east side of I-75, including getting rid of the “eyesore” old gas station by the highway, he said.
Skaff also said a quality apartment complex will force other landlords in the city to keep up their properties. “This is only going to improve the housing stock in town,” he said.
As for the apartment complex being next to commercial or light industrial properties, Skaff pointed out the mix of businesses downtown, with a tattoo parlor next to a church, which is next to an ice cream parlor.
Council member Nick Rubando talked about the housing shortage being a big issue of discussion in the region. He also said the letter from Dundee officials helped convince him the complex won’t “become a slum on the east side of Bowling Green.”
Council member Jeff Dennis urged council to not miss the chance to create more housing.
“I think if we sit here waiting for the perfect opportunity, typically those don’t materialize,” he said.
Such a development could be marketed to people currently living in more expensive communities, Dennis added. And it could be an opportunity for Bowling Green to work on more robust public transportation, he said.
Council member Greg Robinette expressed reservations about the zoning change going against the recommendations of the city’s land use plan adopted in 2014.
“We are bound to honor the process we have for ourselves,” Robinette said, suggesting that council postpone the zoning decision until it can revise its land use plan. “We need to be true to that plan.”
However, City Attorney Mike Marsh suggested that council amend the land use plan at the same time it voted on the zoning change. Council agreed to do that.
In response to the lack of details in the zoning change request, council member Bill Herald asked for a commitment by the builder to work closely with the city on a site plan. Waggner said he would do so.
