Bowling Green, KY Zoning

Overview

Joint city-county Euclidean code with a single comprehensive Article 4 dimensional table set. Districts split into Base (AG, RR, R-E, RS-1A-D, MHP, RM-2/3/4, NB, GB, CB, HB, OP-R, OP-C, P, LI, HI), Special Purpose (PUD, F = General Flood District), and Overlay (CSOD, UG, HD, UD, AD). RS naming is lot-size-encoded with a trailing letter inversion — RS-1A is the LARGEST lot (12k sf) and RS-1D is the SMALLEST (5k sf). This is a quirk worth flagging because numeric encoding would normally tag it 'INVERSE', but the letter sequence here is the actual size-encoded axis.

Districts

Confidence: confirmed partial under review not found

Overlays

State preemptions

Adopted building codes

Statewide; KY plumbing code

Click a code label to open its state-by-state adoption atlas.

Amendment history

Quirks & notes

• Joint city-county zoning under City-County Planning Commission of Warren County — the Joint Zoning Ordinance is the operative zoning code simultaneously for the City of Bowling Green, Warren County's unincorporated area, AND the four other incorporated cities in the county (Oakland, Plum Springs, Smiths Grove, Woodburn). Amendments require coordinated adoption by all six legislative bodies (BG City Commission + Warren County Fiscal Court + 4 other city commissions). The 2026-03-19 amendment package has a coordinated June 17, 2026 adoption deadline — a single dissent from any of the six bodies can block code-wide changes. This is materially different from a standalone municipal zoning code. [citation=Article 4 §4.2.1 (boundaries on city-AND-county map); §4.2.2 (replacement requires resolution from all six bodies); warrenpc.org regulations page.]
• RS-1 naming is lot-size-encoded with letter-suffix inversion — RS-1A is the LARGEST single-family lot (12,000 sf) and RS-1D is the SMALLEST (5,000 sf). Most cities encode lot-size in the numeric portion of the district code; here the encoding is in the trailing letter, ordered A→D = large→small. The numeric '1' is shared across all four RS districts and provides no information. This is a quirk worth flagging because automated KPI-extractors that assume numeric-encoding will mis-rank these districts. [citation=Article 4 §4.4.3 + §4.4.5.B dimensional table.]
• WKU campus proximity drives multifamily parking ratios — RM-2/RM-3/RM-4 districts apply a higher parking schedule for buildings located within 1 mile of WKU's main campus OR for communal/by-room rental facilities (e.g., student housing), vs. a lower flat schedule for buildings ≥1 mile from WKU-owned property. The within-1-mile schedule escalates from 1.5 sp/1-BR up to 5.0 sp/5-BR; the ≥1-mile schedule caps at 2.5 sp/3+-BR plus 10% guest minimum. This is unusual in college towns — most cities apply a single parking ratio with optional reductions; Bowling Green inverts it (higher ratio near campus, on the assumption that student units generate higher off-street demand than typical multifamily). [citation=Article 4 §4.5.4.B dimensional table — RM-2/RM-3/RM-4 'Off-Street Parking' rows.]
• Downtown parking waiver tied to a specific street-bounded zone — within the area bounded by US 31W Bypass / E. Riverview Drive / Kentucky Street / Broadway Ave-E. 12th Avenue, off-street parking is reduced to 1 space per residential dwelling unit (vs. the standard bedroom-based schedule). This downtown bound overlaps with — but is not coterminous with — the CB district and the RS-1D district; the waiver is triggered by location (the geographic bound) rather than by zoning district. A residential project in RS-1D inside the bound: 1 sp/du. A residential project in RS-1D outside the bound: bedroom-based schedule. [citation=Article 4 §4.4.5.B footnote 5; §4.4.6.B; §4.6.8.E.1.]
• Floodplain regulated as a base 'Special Purpose' district (F) rather than as an overlay — Bowling Green's primary floodplain control is the General Flood Plain District (§4.8.2), which is a base district that takes precedence over underlying base zoning. Most cities codify floodplain control as an overlay. This is a meaningful structural difference: in Bowling Green, the F district MAPS to the FEMA 100-year floodplain (dated May 2, 2007 FIS, with FIRMs and Soil Conservation Service Soils Maps incorporated by reference); structures are prohibited; the 1.5 ft freeboard is the principal substantive standard. [citation=Article 4 §4.8.2]
• RM-4 height regulated in stories rather than feet — RM-4 (multi-family >8 units/building) has a max height of '6 stories above grade' per §4.5.4.B. The schema's scalar max_height_ft field doesn't fit story-based regulation; this is the only Bowling Green district that uses story counts rather than foot measurements. Approximate equivalent ≈ 72 ft assuming 12 ft/story, but the regulatory unit is stories. [citation=Article 4 §4.5.4.B dimensional table — RM-4 'Height (max)' row.]
• Twinhomes/townhomes in RS-1B/C/D are by rezoning, not by-right infill — even though the dimensional table permits twinhome/townhome/patio home development in RS-1B (twinhome only), RS-1C (twinhome only), and RS-1D (twinhome, townhome, patio home), §4.4.3.B explicitly disallows infill development of these housing types in existing RS-1 subdivisions unless the property was rezoned on or after 2018-07-01 OR the development plan / development plan conditions are amended. This creates a two-tier regime — pre-2018-07-01 RS-1B/C/D parcels are effectively single-family only; post-2018-07-01 rezonings unlock the higher-density housing types. [citation=Article 4 §4.4.3.B narrative]
• RS-1A-D ban on manufactured homes is at risk of HB 160 preemption challenge after 2026-07-01 — RS-1A through RS-1D currently disallow manufactured homes (§4.4.3.B table marks 'Manufactured Home -- -- -- --'). Under the prior KRS 100.348 anti-exclusion floor this passes because modular homes ARE permitted (providing a non-stick-built single-family form). Under HB 160's parity standard (effective 2026-07-01), this distinction tightens — architectural-compatibility standards applied to manufactured units must be equivalent to those applied to site-built dwellings, and the 2025 amendment may not tolerate a categorical ban. The 2026-03-19 amendment package pending adoption may be the conformance vehicle. [status=under_review; qualifying_condition=Effective date 2026-07-01 postdates this v2 research pass (2026-05-22); Bowling Green's response (ZOTA, amendment, or no change) is not yet observable. The 2026-03-19 amendment package text is not yet posted to warrenpc.org.; citation=Article 4 §4.4.3.B + zoning/us/kentucky/preemptions.md §2025 HB 160.]
• Bowling Green-Warren County Airport (BWG) overlay defers to KAZC + FAA Part 77 rather than codifying its own height tables — unlike many city airport overlays that codify Part 77-derived height ceilings in their own dimensional tables, Bowling Green's AD overlay (§4.9.6) is a referral overlay: it identifies the geographic area, names the Kentucky Airport Zoning Commission as the additional reviewing body, and stops there. The substantive height ceilings live with FAA Part 77 surfaces and KAZC's published regulations — not in Article 4. [citation=Article 4 §4.9.6]
• Urban Growth Overlay is a corridor design-review overlay (KY 234 + KY 880), not a general growth-boundary — the name 'Urban Growth Overlay' suggests a planned-expansion or city-county-coordination growth boundary, but §4.9.3.B applies the overlay only to two specific corridors: Cemetery Road (KY 234) and Lovers Lane (KY 880). The v1 record's description of UG as a 'regional growth management and city-county coordination overlay' overstates its function — it is materially a design-review overlay on two named corridors, with prohibited-use lists, materials standards, building-size caps (20k sf single-story / 30k sf total multi-story), and a 30%-building/70%-improved-lot cap. [citation=Article 4 §4.9.3]

Formulas

Definitions

height

Maximum building height per Article 4 dimensional tables (residential §4.4.5.B, multi-family §4.5.4.B, commercial §4.6.8.B.1, industrial §4.7.3.B.1). Measured from grade to top of structure. Height limit exceptions per §4.4.5.C.8 / §4.5.4.C.9 / §4.7.3 (church spires, belfries, cupolas, monuments, water towers, observation towers, flag poles, chimneys are exempt).

lot_coverage

Building footprint plus structures (including accessory structures), patios, walkways, travelways, and parking areas (including gravel, pervious material, or similar permeable paving material) divided by gross lot area. Lot coverage does NOT include uncovered semi-pervious decks or the water surface area of outdoor pools (residential — §4.4.5.C.6, multi-family — §4.5.4.C.6, commercial — §4.6.8.B.3). Industrial measurement excludes pervious material from the covered area (§4.7.3.B.3).

far

Not codified as a separate FAR table in Article 4. Bowling Green / Warren County regulate intensity through lot coverage, height, setback, and (in some districts) maximum building size — not FAR. CB district carries no maximum on lot coverage, height, or building size, providing the highest by-right intensity envelope in the code.

du_ac

Implicit via min-lot-area and (in RM-3) min-lot-area-per-additional-unit. The highest by-right density in the code is RM-4 multi-family (>8 units/building) on 5,000 sf min lot area with no upper unit cap; practical density depends on lot configuration, six-story height limit, and parking standards (which scale with bedroom count and WKU campus proximity).

setback_front

Front yard measured from the property line per district table. Variable front-yard setback waiver available where majority of block face is set back less (§4.4.5.C.7.c / §4.5.4.C.7.c / §4.6.8.B.4 / §4.7.3.B.4).

setback_side

Side yard per district table; additional 25 ft side+rear setback required for RM-2/RM-3/RM-4 development adjacent to a single-family residential district or use (§4.5.4.C.8). Additional 40 ft side+rear setback required for OP-C/HB/GB commercial development adjacent to single-family (§4.6.8.C.1); 25 ft for OP-R/NB/P/CB (§4.6.8.C.2). 50 ft side+rear setback required for any LI/HI industrial development adjacent to a residential district, structure, or use (§4.7.3.C).

setback_rear

Rear yard per district table; same single-family-adjacency rules as side yard.

parking

Off-street parking per district. SF residential: spaces scale with bedroom count (1 BR → 2 sp, 2 BR → 2 sp, 3 BR → 3 sp, 4+ BR → 4 sp). RM-2/3/4 multi-family parking ALSO scales with bedroom count AND with WKU campus proximity — units located less than 1 mile from WKU's main campus carry materially higher parking ratios than units ≥1 mile away (§4.5.4.B table). Commercial and industrial parking per Article 5 use-specific schedules (§4.6.8.E for commercial, §4.7.3.E for industrial). CB district + the downtown RS-1D area (bounded by US 31W Bypass / East Riverview Drive / Kentucky Street / Broadway Ave-East 12th Ave) are exempt from off-site parking requirements except for residential uses, which require 1 space per dwelling unit (§4.6.8.E.1).

Capacity calculations

max_footprint_sf

lot_area_sf * lot_coverage (per Article 4 district table)

max_units_RM3

8 plus floor((lot_area_sf - 8000) / 2000) — at minimum 8,000 sf lot area yields 1 unit; each additional 2,000 sf adds 1 unit (Sec. 4.5.4.B)

max_units_RM4

floor(lot_area_sf / 5000) — but unit count primarily governed by 6-story height limit + parking + building-size constraints rather than lot-area-per-unit (Sec. 4.5.4.B)

max_stories_RM4

6 stories above grade (Sec. 4.5.4.B table — RM-4 is the only district expressed in stories rather than feet)

Sources & references

Research status

Other cities in this state

Nearest-alphabetical profiles. Click through to compare zoning patterns side-by-side.

Related pages

Every city in the corpus is connected to the broader wiki. Use these links to cross-check applicable laws, codes, and concepts.