Council refuses to uphold planning commission denial for K Avenue duplex; votes also fail to uphold final plat

The Lebanon City Council on Aug. 11 voted not to uphold the Planning and Zoning Commission’s decisions on two related matters: a conditional‑use request for a duplex at Lots 79 and 80 K Avenue and the final plat for Flatwood Estates Number 5. City staff explained the voting procedure to the council before the vote: "Since you guys can only vote in the affirmative state, basically, what you guys are gonna do is there will be a motion to uphold the Planning and Zoning Commission's decision ... if you don't wanna uphold the Commission's decision, you need to vote no," a staff member said. Councilmember Mutchler moved to uphold the commission; Councilmember Jordan seconded. During the roll call on the conditional‑use motion, several members voted "no" and one member abstained; the clerk confirmed, "So it looks like the action up to uphold that fails." On the final‑plat vote for Flatwood Estates Number 5, the council again voted against upholding the commission’s decision and the motion failed. The clerk then told the council, "So the motion to uphold is failed. So both actions carry then," indicating the commission's denials will not stand. The transcript shows the roll-call pattern for the conditional use: Mizell, Mutchler, Jordan, Garner, Atkins and Mitchell recorded "no" votes and Evans "abstain"; the motion therefore failed on roll call. After the votes, staff said the rezone process will return to the council and, if rezoned, the final plat will be placed on a future agenda for approval. No members of the public spoke during the public‑hearing segment on these items at the Aug. 11 meeting.