Displeased with the city’s decision to re-zone a 26 acre area next to Meijer, Bowling Green Citizens for Smart Growth and other concerned citizens spoke to city council on Monday. They also began collecting signatures for a petition that would put a referendum on November’s ballot that would allow the voters to decide if the area should be re-zoned.
On May 16, city council decided to change the A-1 agricultural zone into a R-1 Multiple-Family classification, which Smart Growth said goes against the city master plan. The re-zoning would allow a new apartment complex to be built that is aimed at housing students.
“This area of Bowling Green’s master plan is for future industrial and commercial growth, not apartment housing or residential,” Smart Growth President Mike Tyson said. “Industrial and residential located beside one another is the most incompatible of uses.”
Council President B.J. Fischer explained the reasoning of the council’s decision, saying that the new development could potentially ease recent student housing problems.
“There are a lot of stress points in this community where student housing and long term residential housing are a flashpoint. This is a situation where that’s not going to exist and it seemed to me that that was a positive thing,” Fischer said.
He also explained that there is a possibility that commercial businesses would be willing to locate close to the new development, as this is becoming a trend in many areas.
However, Smart Growth sees many problems with building off campus student targeted housing so far away from the University and the downtown area. They argue that it will draw business away from the downtown area and that there is already plenty of vacant apartments for students.
They are also concerned about safety issues and the money that it will cost the city to take safety precautions. They believe that emergency response times will be slower than any where else in the city.
They also questioned council about how students will travel from the new complex to the University and other destinations. With the thought in mind that some students do not have cars and will be walking or biking to class over the busy I-75 state Route 105 overpass, Tyson said that it is a safety concern.
“The Bowling Green City Council should declare this an emergency and halt any construction until this safety matter is resolved to the satisfaction of the community,” Tyson said.
David McClough, who spoke against the re-zoning said that the city should not impose costs on the University by expecting them to provide students with transportation to solve the safety issue, which had been suggested by council members.
“It would seem to me to that to impose cost on the University resulting from this rezoning and development would be improper,” David McClough said. McClough and Smart Growth members will be working to obtain the 616 signatures that they need to get the issue on the ballot.
