Board approves 8-foot fence for Bowling Green Community Center pickleball courts

The Bowling Green Zoning Board of Appeals approved a variance allowing the city to install an 8-foot-tall chain-link fence around new pickleball courts at the Bowling Green Community Center, 1245 Newton Road. The zoning code’s fence table sets a 4-foot maximum for front yards; the requested height is 4 feet greater than that limit.

Parks and Recreation Director Kristen Atley, representing the city, said the parks department and engineering consultants Kimley‑Horn recommended an 8‑foot fence to keep balls in play and to match practices used by nearby communities. “If we're gonna build these, we're gonna build them right,” Atley told the board, and she said the parks department had worked for three years with a local pickleball advisory group on the design.

Atley said the courts have private donations and some state funding behind them and that the recommended fence height is common in northwest Ohio; she cited recent installations in Perrysburg and Oregon. Planning staff presented aerial imagery and noted prior variances on the community center property, including an 8‑foot athletic-field fence installed in 2016 and a wall-sign variance approved in 2021.

Board members discussed the recreational purpose of the fence and the location of the proposed fence line, and several members said an 8‑foot fence was appropriate for the courts. A motion to approve the variance carried on a unanimous roll call vote. Staff reminded the city representatives to complete any necessary follow-up with the planning department.

The board record shows required public notices were posted and no written objections were received. The variance applies only to the fence height; the permit for the courts and related site work remains subject to standard administrative review and inspections.