During a committee of the whole meeting following their regular meeting on Monday, Bowling Green Council continued their efforts to work through the proposed new zoning code.
Monday’s was the second of an expected series of several such work sessions. When these work sessions conclude, council expects to have an adoption draft of the code that can be added to their formal agenda.
Among the action taken, council approved a suggestion from the planning commission that the maximum period of days to stay in a bed and breakfast be changed from 14 to 120.
Commission member Will Airhart told council the rationale behind the change was so that, for instance, a visiting professor at Bowling Green State University might have that as an option for a semester-long stay.
Council also voted 2-5 not to discuss the issue of backyard chickens in relation to the zoning code at the present time. Council members Rachel Phipps and Jeff Dennis voted in favor.
“I fear that by bringing it into this, we are going to slow down this process,” said Councilman Nick Rubando, saying he felt there were other issues that also needed attention.
During that evening’s council meeting, resident Les Barber spoke on the proposed zoning code, specifically addressing the controversial Pedestrian Residential zone.
Barber said that the proposed new uses in the zone “are, in our view, inappropriate, unnecessary, intrusive, discriminatory. Basically, they don’t fit the needs of the areas proposed in the ordinance … nor really Bowling Green as a whole.”
He said that residents wouldn’t move to those areas simply because of that zoning, and that unregulated student rentals remain a core problem.
