Recently the city of Bowling Green has begun a process to change the zoning designation for the center city. The Council is right now writing a draft of a new zoning code for the center of our town, which they are (ironically) calling Pedestrian/ Residential. This proposal would change our center city neighborhood streets from R2 to allow business and denser housing (i.e. rentals and townhouses or apartment buildings).
It does nothing to improve the neighborhood housing in the area that has already fallen into disrepair as a result of rental houses becoming more prevalent in these neighborhoods over the years. On the contrary, many venerable old streets with large shade trees and older homes with character are now even more threatened by the PR, which would essentially convert this area into a business district by some other name.
Some of these changes are already being put into operation. Seventeen old shade trees were removed from Church Street last summer, as a matter of construction convenience, I presume. I counted them because I am a pedestrian on that street almost every day. How this can be referred to as “Pedestrian/Residential” improvement is a mystery to me. This summer others were removed from West Wooster. How is that pedestrian friendly? And, by the way, removing old-growth shade trees and replacing them later with a sapling about as big around as my index finger is cold comfort if you ask me.
Other kinds of supposed improvements would be to destroy the downtown skyline by allowing very tall buildings. They would also be reducing the width and depth of yards. Businesses could be moving onto residential streets and, probably most significantly considering the history of BG with the rental industry, more housing possibilities could be squeezed into neighborhoods with already existing rentals, with a further reduction of green space. Up to 80 percent of a given property can be covered with a building or a parking lot.
Are you ready to have your friendly neighborhood rental business turn the yard of the rental next door to you into a parking lot with a nice big parking lot light on a pole right next to your bedroom window?
Council and the city administration do not seem very concerned about the effect on people’s houses who are already living in this district. And, most egregiously, they have not really given any serious response to our very serious questions about this proposed change. One comment I did hear floating around was that many of these same conditions are already part of the center city landscape. How ironic!
A proposed zoning improvement would allow more of the very kinds of development that have already created a problem in the area. Interestingly, this zoning improvement is not being proposed for the neighborhoods of Westgate or Stone Ridge. If it is such a good thing, why not share it with those neighborhoods?
At the last two Council meetings, many people from these neighborhoods showed up to express their dismay. No one was rude or out of line, and yet the Lobby Visitation part of the last meeting was curtailed and then erased (by accident) from the proceedings when the video version came out.
You would think that they would want the public to know what they are planning if it is such a good thing, wouldn’t you? The local newspapers have given a rather perfunctory treatment of the outcry of the neighbors over this in several front-page articles on the PR. Some reports seem to downplay the number of people who are against this proposal or suggest it is a question of older people versus younger people.
This is primarily why I am writing a letter to the editor. I want the public to see this and hear it from people who are being affected by it. I hope that the larger community will take a look at what is going on here and support their neighbors against this attempt to hand over our street to business interests with no consideration for those who live on them.
We live here. Our children grew up here. This is our home.
Suzanne Midden
Bowling Green
