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Bowling Green City Council discusses proposed zoning change; residents group pushes back

The change would expand the list of businesses allowed in neighborhoods surrounding downtown, make property lots smaller and allow for more rental properties.

BOWLING GREEN, Ohio — Bowling Green City Council is considering a zoning change that would expand the list of businesses allowed in neighborhoods surrounding downtown, make property lots smaller and allow for more rental properties.

Some residents in the neighborhoods that WTOL 11 spoke with said businesses wouldn't work in their residential areas.

"Companies, restaurants, carryouts, gas stations or whatever into these neighborhoods would be not a very good idea," resident Bette Blair said.

So, neighbors created the Save Our BG Neighborhoods Committee with the goal of preserving the district the way it is.

"We're feeling that it's not the best thing for our city and certainly not for this historical area in the middle of Bowling Green," resident John Sampen said.

The group offered a counter-proposal: the Central Residential District, which would essentially keep the code the same as its been since the 1970s.

"We don't know what's wrong with the 50-year-old zoning code. I don't know what needs to be changed," Sampen said.

Council said the idea is to prepare for the potential of Bowling Green expanding in the future

But the zoning change wouldn't necessarily mean new rentals," council member at-large Jeff Dennis said.

"One important thing to note: we're not talking about new rentals. I can still purchase a single-family home and rent it out to a bunch of people," Dennis said.

Council will continue discussions before any changes to the zoning code are made.

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