Lebanon City Council Upholds Zoning And Planning Decision On Downtown Church

On Monday night, Lebanon City Council was asked to reverse a decision by Zoning and Planning on a request for a conditional use permit to locate the Cowboy Church at 200 West Commercial, which is in Downtown Lebanon. During a public hearing, Attorney Randall Sutter appeared on behalf of the church. He presented a list of business owner’s names from the Downtown Business District who said they didn’t have a problem with a church moving into the building.

Councilman Ken Eldridge spoke up, saying the challenge is options for retail.

The Missouri Association of Freewill Baptist owns the building, and Nathan Ruble represented the group at the meeting.

Cynthia Coffman, Director of the Downtown Business District, also said that a survey was done in the downtown businesses district just before her arrival as Director…

After hearing comments from both sides, Lebanon City Council voted to uphold the Zoning and Planning Commissions decision to deny the conditional use permit. The vote was 6 to 1 with Councilwoman Sheila Mitchell voting no. Mitchell stated during her vote that quote “I wouldn’t like someone telling me who I can rent my building to”.