Growth, growth and more growth.

Some see this as a good thing while others may not, but regardless this growth is inevitable.

It seems like everywhere you look these days in our city there are more and more apartments and subdivisions being built.

The city keeps pushing further and further into the county with development. We understand that as one of the fastest-growing cities in Kentucky that there is a need for more of these apartments and houses.

We’re not opposed to progress, but we need to try to retain some of the county’s undeveloped areas, which include rich farmland.

A prime example was Dewey Lake, a beautiful little gem that was sadly drained and paved over with concrete by the state several years ago to make way for an Interstate 65 interchange. The serenity of that lake is now gone forever.

While growth in a city like Bowling Green is inevitable, it is important to realize, however, that it comes with a price. There must be a balance, including preserving open spaces and protecting existing neighborhoods.

One proposed development adjacent to a historic neighborhood in our city that we oppose, even though it has been approved by the City-County Planning Commission of Warren County and the Bowling Green City Commission, is the planned development of 13.5 acres near Highland Way and Nashville Road. The developers plan to turn the property into apartments and commercial businesses.

The land being developed is owned by Warren District Judge Sam Potter Jr. and Jeff and Betsy Harned. We take no issue with Potter or the Harneds for selling their land. It’s their land, and it’s their right to sell it if that is their wish. They had their reasons for selling the land, and we are not going to question or fault them on acting on their desires to do so.

We are deeply concerned, however, how this new development of apartments, gas stations and talk of fast-food restaurants is going to affect the quiet, beautiful neighborhood on Highland Way and the people who live on the street.

Driving down this road on any given day with its attractive and well-maintained homes is quite the delight. Its woodline behind the houses on one side of the road makes you feel as though you are in the country. It’s not uncommon to see wild turkeys crossing the roads or walking around in people’s front yards.

Sadly, with the ongoing development of the old Buono property and this impending development, you likely won’t see any of this any longer. That’s a real shame because beyond the beautiful houses, these intangible characteristics give this neighborhood its unique quality.

The development plan has been strongly opposed by nearby residents for several good reasons.

The main argument from those who live in the neighborhood is that apartments and possibly a convenience store with gas pumps simply aren’t compatible with the well-established single-family residential neighborhood.

Another valid concern put forth by Highland Way residents is how this development is going to affect the property values of their houses.

We believe this development has the potential to lower the property values of many houses on Highland Way, and that is very unfortunate.

We were glad to see that Potter and the Harneds did make some changes to the original plans for the property, such as limiting the maximum height of structures in the general business zone to two stories instead of three, adding packaged liquor stores as a prohibited use in the general business zone, constructing an eight-foot wooden fence as a barrier along all property lines shared with property used for single-family residences, limiting the maximum height of structures that are within 40 feet of single-family residential property to one story and agreeing to a uniform color scheme for the buildings in the multi-family residential section.

Hopefully, this will help ease some concerns of those living on Highland Way.

But at the end of the day, it’s just going to be really sad to see a beautiful and historic neighborhood like Highland Way have its character and prestige affected by a project we don’t believe fits into this particular neighborhood.

We understand the residents’ concerns, we empathize with them, we stand with them and we wish like them that this development near such a historic neighborhood wouldn’t occur.

Perhaps in the future, those serving on the P&Z board and the Bowling Green City Commission will put more thought toward those whose lives and property values are impacted before voting for more development projects like this one.