By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
The persistent drum beat of Bowling Green residents unhappy with proposed zoning code changes has not fallen on deaf ears.
After months of listening to citizens’ concerns about protecting their neighborhoods, two City Council members are proposing a compromise. That proposal will be presented Monday during a City Council work session on the zoning code update.
On Saturday, council members Jeff Dennis and Rachel Phipps sat down to explain the proposed middle ground on the zoning changes.
The proposed zoning code update creates mixed-use opportunities in the neighborhoods adjacent to the downtown, as called for by the city’s planning documents. However, the concerns from tenacious citizens worried about the possible negative impacts of the proposed Pedestrian-Residential District have been loud and clear.
Based on this feedback, Dennis and Phipps have proposed the following:
- Scaling back the commercial uses in the PR District.
- Implementing the mixed-use concept in a more incremental fashion by instead permitting residential uses in areas of commercial and manufacturing that currently exist in the proposed district.
“The feedback we were getting came from folks trying to grapple with what this means for their neighborhoods,” Phipps said.
Many have criticized the city for not notifying them of the zoning code changes until they were in draft form last year.
“That’s something I have a lot of sympathy for,” Phipps said.
But while the exact “pedestrian-residential” zoning designation may be rather new, the concept has been addressed in the city’s planning documents from 2014, 2018 and 2019, she said.
The city did outreach, but the zoning documents are so dense, and the process so stretched out, that it may have gone unnoticed by many.
That is no longer the case, with residents opposed to the Pedestrian-Residential zoning showing up and speaking at every City Council meeting.
“It’s great to see people engaged in the process,” Dennis said.
And despite the fact that council members don’t respond to the citizens during the meetings, they are listening, Dennis and Phipps said.
The biggest concerns seem to be that PR zoning would allow several types of small businesses to locate in residential neighborhoods, and that it would encourage more rental housing in the older neighborhoods surrounding the downtown area.
The compromise plan limits the number of permitted business uses in the PR zones. The permitted uses are:
- Adult group homes
- Passive greenspace
- Professional offices
- Side/rear parking pads
- Two-unit dwellings
- One-unit dwellings
- Bed & breakfasts
The permitted uses no longer include corner stores.
The conditional uses would be:
- Accessory dwelling units
- Nursing homes
- Places of worship
- Retail services
- Primary or secondary schools
- Vocational training schools
- Telecommunications facilities
- Some types of home day care
- Barbers, beauty salons, spas
- Campus ministries
- Day care centers
- Mortuaries or funeral homes
No longer allowed among conditional uses would be bars or taverns, microbreweries or distilleries, retail sales, and rooming/boarding houses.
The New Zone proposal also identifies areas in the blocks surrounding the downtown that are currently zoned light manufacturing or business. Some of those properties are located where the railroad tracks used to travel through west of the downtown area. Under the new plan, those pockets would allow residential uses.
“We have been hearing from residents for years about needing to refine zoning in these areas,” Dennis said. “There is a lot of potential in these areas.”
“I think it’s a good compromise,” Phipps said.
The specifics of the zoning code could set design standards so any new buildings add to the quality of the neighborhood.
“That should give people some peace of mind,” Phipps said.
Dennis and Phipps are asking for City Council’s support in asking ZoneCo to create architectural design standards for the New Zone to ensure that any new development or substantial redevelopment will not detract from and will add value to the surrounding neighborhood.
They would like to have a list of proposed architectural design standards and visuals for the public to consider as this alternative is discussed in the next few weeks.
“At the end of the day, we need more quality housing options,” Dennis said. “This is not a silver bullet to solve that problem. I don’t know anyone who is claiming it is. But this is not going to be a last step toward revitalizing our neighborhoods and improving our housing stock.”
Dennis and Phipps hope that City Council will agree to the New Zone concept during Monday’s workshop session, so community engagement can begin on the proposed changes.
Both agreed there would be plenty of time left for community input, with a public forum on March 23, plus City Council’s three readings of the legislation on March 20, April 3 and 17.
“There is still going to be ample opportunity for more public input,” Dennis said.
“I am confident we will listen and not rush,” Phipps said.
The New Zone proposal was made with input from Mayor Mike Aspacher, Municipal Administrator Lori Tretter, Planning Director Heather Sayler, and ZoneCo, the firm hired to work on the zoning update.
In a letter sent to City Council members, Aspacher voiced his support of the New Zone proposal including:
- Pedestrian Residential/New “Mixed Use” Zone: The mayor said this proposal balances the perspective of preserving the vibrant neighborhoods near the downtown and sets a reasonable course of action to address areas currently zoned for business/manufacturing in areas that are primarily surrounded by or are adjacent to residential neighborhoods.
- Modified pedestrian residential: If the goal now is to create a residential district that addresses concerns of residents and more closely resembles the current make-up and composition of the neighborhoods, the modified PR District moves the city closer to this outcome than either the original PR proposal or the Central Residential District that has been proposed by residents, the mayor said.
- “New” Zone: In consideration of the business and manufacturing zoned areas adjacent to residential areas, Aspacher said the new zone allows for areas to have a mix of commercial and residential. This plan is more consistent with uses in the area and with previous planning documents. The mayor also voiced support that architectural standards be developed.
In his letter to council, the mayor suggested that the topics of bed and breakfasts and short term rentals be delayed. While the subjects are worthy of discussion, they should be tackled later in the summer, when they can be addressed thoroughly, he said.
“The zoning process has been lengthy and all are to be commended for the numerous meetings attended and considerations made during this extensive process. I am confident that Bowling Green will be better served by this updated zoning code,” Aspacher said.
