The Butler Planning and Zoning Commission made the right decision last week by voting unanimously against a proposed ordinance amendment that would have added a Central Business Entertainment District to the zoning ordinance.

In this case, the commission’s choice was the right one, not necessarily because of what the new district would have included — but what it wouldn’t have included.

The district — proposed as an area with C2E zoning — would have been a 20-block area within the larger C-2 Central Business District.

For those unfamiliar with the intricacies of zoning rules, the new C2E district would have permitted retail stores, service shops, hotels, bed and breakfasts, restaurants, banks, churches, museums, amusement and cultural facilities, convenience stores, microbreweries, day spas and massage therapy offices, rental halls, entertainment facilities, colleges and offices above commercial stores at the street level.

That’s all great — there’s no argument that these types of businesses and venues contribute greatly to an area’s appeal.

However, permitted uses in a C-2 district that would not have been allowed under the new district include offices, schools, medical and dental offices, funeral homes, parking garages, philanthropic institutions, recreation facilities, libraries, day care centers and preschools, automobile sales and service, gas and fuel sales, electric and household appliance repair shops, multiple-family dwellings and many other types of businesses and services.

This is why we agree with the commission’s vote against the proposal.

“This ordinance really uninvites businesses to the downtown,” said Joe Caparosa, the commission’s chairman.

Agreed. Although the proposal for the new district was meant to be a “starting point,” its limitations make it a nonstarter.

It’s not a good idea to limit the types of businesses in the Central Business District in the way that this proposal did, especially in the current atmosphere in which businesses are struggling following eight months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There’s no doubt that some of the allowed entities in the proposal would make great additions to the Central Business District — but not at the expense of preventing so many other types of valuable businesses and services from sharing that space as well. The commission made the right move by voting this proposal down.

— NCD