By JAN McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Bowling Green is seeing more single-family home construction, plus a 66-dwelling senior housing development being built in the area behind Aldi’s on South Main Street.
So far this year, 7,285 rental housing units have been registered in the city, with the annual inspections due at the end of the year.
And next year, the Wood County Health Department will conduct its five-year exterior housing survey in the city. So far this year, 45 complaints have been made about the exterior conditions of houses, with 23 being resolved.
Bowling Green Planning Director Heather Sayler recently updated City Council on her office’s work on zoning, subdivisions, historic preservation, and rental housing programs.
So far this year, the city has issued 273 zoning permits compared to 286 for the entire 2024. Included in that are 40 single-family homes in the first eight months of this year, compared to 28 for all of 2024.
Following are some specifics for new commercial and industrial zoning permits:
Innovation & Employment Zoning
- Town & Country Animal Healthcare, new construction at 811 S. Dunbridge Road.
- Pioneer Packing addition at 510 E. Napoleon Road.
Commercial, Interstate Commerce and Central Business District Zoning
- Ziggy’s alteration at 300 E. Wooster St.
- PNC Bank alteration, 735 S. Main St.
- Dollar Tree, zoning compliance, 722 S. Main St.
- Ollie’s, zoning compliance, 818 S. Main St.
- Harbor, zoning compliance, 1010 N. Prospect St.
- Ohio Arms LLC, zoning compliance, 102 W. Poe Road.
- Speedway, new construction, 1650 E. Wooster St.
- Studio Inferno, zoning compliance, 1036 N. Main St.
Institutional or Recreational Conservation Zoning
- Bowling Green City Schools, new high school construction, 530 W. Poe Road.
- Bowling Green Parks & Recreation, construction of new pickleball courts, 1245 W. Newton Road.
- St. Aloysius Church, addition and alteration, 150 S. Enterprise St.
- City of Bowling Green, zoning compliance, 1291 Conneaut Ave.
- Wood County Commissioners, zoning compliance, 1 Courthouse Square.
Multi-Unit Residential Zoning
- Bowling Green Senior Living, new construction of 66 dwelling units, 1016 S. Main St.
Following are the subdivisions, annexations and zoning code amendments approved by the Bowling Green Planning Commission:
Subdivisions:
- Stone Brook second addition, final plat approved for R-1 low density residential zoning.
- Cogan’s Crossing, preliminary plan approval extended for R-1 zoning.
- Toussaint Springs, final plat 2 approved for R-2 medium density residential zoning.
- Wood Acres, final plat approved for institutional zoning.
Annexations:
- Two parcels totaling 57.5 acres from Center Township, at 12698 and 12732 Newton Road.
- Two parcels totaling about 5.6 acres from Plain Township, at 14556 and 14618 Sand Ridge Road.
- Approximately 67.6 acres in the 14000 block of Bishop Road near Brim Road, from Plain Township.
Amendments to the zoning code:
- Text amendments were recommended to City Council regarding smoke and vape shops.
Historic Preservation Commission work:
- Downtown historical signage project is finalist for Best Downtown Placemaking Award.
- Two local historic designations at 503 Buttonwood Ave. and 416 W. Wooster St.
- National Preservation Month celebrated in May with self-guided walking tours using “History Lives Here” signs, Local Historic Pedal Bike Tours, and Downtown Signage Scavenger Hunt.
- Historic Building of the Month articles continue.
Rental registration and self-inspection program:
- 7,285 registrations.
- 1,462 self-inspections submitted as of Sept. 2. They are due Dec. 31.
- One rental owner was taken to court due to lack of communication and failure to provide the required interior and exterior self-inspections in 2024.
- 21 failed inspections from last year. Ten have been fixed, five are under renovation, and updates are being waited on for the others.
- A new rental portal was launched in March that is easier to navigate.
