Special election scheduled for Lowell

LOWELL — Residents will have a chance April 9 to reverse a City Council decision to rezone land on Old Wire Road.

Casey Kuth of Lowell headed the effort to place a referendum on the ballot that, if approved, would void a rezoning passed by the council Nov. 13.

The land on Old Wire Road east of McClure Avenue was rezoned from residential to medium-density residential, which allows multifamily housing.

The vote was split 4-4. Eldon Long, who was mayor then, broke the tie and voted in favor of the rezoning.

“It’s the price of progress. That’s what I ran on, and I believe this is the right thing to do to vote yes on this,” Long said, according to meeting minutes.

Kuth said City Council member Dean Bitner acted unethically by voting in favor of rezoning property next to his business, Lowell Storage. She said a complaint has been filed with the Arkansas Ethics Commission, but not by her. Jill Barham, staff attorney for the Arkansas Ethics Commission, said she wasn’t allowed to confirm whether a case was under investigation. She said she can only discuss cases after they are closed for 30 days.

Minutes of the council meeting show seven residents spoke in opposition of the rezoning.

D.J. Kootman said it appeared to residents a councilman owns storage units next to the proposed rezone, according to the minutes.

“And I know when I lived in apartments, I never really had enough room to store stuff, and I’m sure as a business owner this would be a very lucrative neighbor to have for your business as well. So — and again not trying to personally attack — I just wanted to bring that out — make sure we don’t have personal business needs being put above the needs of the Lowell citizens,” Kootman said.

Bitner said he originally intended to abstain from the