By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Parking is a precious commodity in a college town – but so is grass.
So Bowling Green Planning Commission voted unanimously this week to support an ordinance that would prevent homeowners from paving over entire residential lots.
City Planning Director Heather Sayler said the ordinance will set limits on exactly how much of a lot can be paved over.
“The ability to pave almost an entire property has been a concern for some time,”Sayler said.
The need for the ordinance became even more pressing when city planning consultants pointed out the lack of regulations as a problem. It was further emphasized when the city recently received a few permit applications proposing large paved areas on residential lots, Sayler said.
“We received a permit application to pave a large area of a yard. With the existing buildings and proposed paved area, it was calculated to be 89 percent,” she said.
That plan was not approved, and did not proceed.
The planning office surveyed other Ohio college communities and found they have similar ordinances in place to limit paving on residential properties.
“Lot coverage is a very common zoning code regulation,” Sayler said.
The new ordinance would benefit the city both aesthetically and environmentally.
“This would likely result in the preservation of grass surfaces,” she said, and that will be better for neighborhood aesthetics and the environment.
The ordinance will restrict the total amount of buildings and impervious surfaces for single-family residential lots.
Specifically, the ordinance will allow maximum pavement coverage at 50 percent for R-1 single-family residential lots, and 60 percent for R-2 single-family residential lots. R-1 zoning is for lower density residential lots, while R-2 lots tend to be smaller properties in higher density areas, like the neighborhoods around the downtown area.
Also at this week’s city planning commission meeting, the members unanimously approved a preliminary plat by Blue Creek LLC to add 56 lots to the existing Cogan’s Crossing subdivision, located at the northeast corner of Brim and Bishop roads.
Work at the subdivision on the north edge of Bowling Green had stalled after the Great Recession and bankruptcy of the previous owner.
