Cotter adopts 'Cotter River District' entertainment zone after 4–2 vote

The Cotter City Council voted to adopt Ordinance 2024-08 on Aug. 22, 2024, creating a downtown Historic Entertainment District the organizers call the "Cotter River District." The ordinance allows limited open-container alcohol service inside the district using city-approved 16-ounce cups and requires festival and event organizers to provide security, traffic control and pay a $250 event fee.

Supporters including Jason Nazarenko of the Cotter-Gassville Chamber of Commerce said the district is intended to mirror existing Commercial and Multiple Use zoning downtown and boost local economic activity. John Montgomery, a Cotter resident who described his positive experience with a neighbouring city's entertainment district, told the council, "I personally wouldn't want to live anywhere else." Mayor MacGeorge Caradine said he and his wife share the vision for careful, slow growth in Cotter.

Council debate centered on implementation details and enforcement. Councilwoman Carolyn Gill said she opposed immediate adoption as an "emergency" action and emphasized the ordinance did not need expedited readings; Councilwoman Mertice Kray voted against the ordinance at all stages. City Attorney Roger Morgan clarified procedural questions about suspending rules and how abstentions are treated in votes.

The council used successive motions to suspend the rules and advance the ordinance for immediate second and third readings. Final votes on the procedural suspensions and adoption were recorded as four in favor (Councilmen Chuck Sugg, Joe Bass, Ben Woodard, and Councilwoman Linda McCarthy) and two opposed (Councilwomen Mertice Kray and Carolyn Gill). The ordinance will govern downtown signage, cup labeling, and the boundaries of the district; park areas were explicitly excluded from the district's boundaries.

The decision follows a Chamber presentation of a new city logo and a reported $7,000 Chamber budget earmarked for signage and light-post banners. The council did not adopt additional enforcement funding at the meeting; organizers will be responsible for security at events. The council set a public hearing on unrelated grant funding for a Youth Center on Sept. 26, 2024.

The ordinance text was placed on its first reading by title only, then advanced under suspended-rule votes and adopted on the evening of Aug. 22. The council also recorded that businesses remain responsible for compliance with insurance and overservice rules; the ordinance limits cups to 16 oz and requires an approved label for open-container service inside the district.