Wilson County Planning Commission votes against industrial park plan

WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A resolution was reached Friday on a controversial rezoning proposal in Wilson County.

On Friday, June 21, Wilson County farmers rode about 35 tractors through Lebanon, with a police escort, in a show of protest against this plan, which would develop approximately 1,400 acres of farmland into an industrial park.

This parade acted as a precursor to the county’s 10 a.m. planning commission meeting regarding the plan.

“Seeing the community grow and be strong in a time like this is a heartfelt moment for me,” said Jack Pratt, a lifelong farmer in the Tuckers Crossroad area. “This community is a family. It’s family farms, people that live out there, and we’re sticking together to let them know that we do not want this. There’s a disconnect in our country right now; there’s a disconnect even right here in Tennessee. People don’t realize how their food, where it comes from. We want them to realize that we grow it right here, locally, and this affects them.”

PREVIOUS: Wilson County farmers plan protest against industrial development

Ahead of a decision by the planning commission, opposition towards the plan was on full display inside the county’s courthouse.

“They think they can push us out?!” exclaimed resident Judy Harrington at the podium. “We’ve lived there for 32 years! We moved there in 1992! We love our place! We bought it for our kids, to pass it onto them, not to give to people that already have billions of dollars!”

“I’m mainly up here for my kids,” said another resident. “I got two little ones. One day, they may want to farm, and if we don’t stand our ground now, there may not be any farmland in the future.”

“We already have an industry [here]: it’s called agriculture,” Pratt said during the meeting.

The developers from a Texas-based company, Hillwood, presented an updated plan that promised cooperation with farmers, miles of new and needed water pipelines, and other boosts to the local economy.

Additionally, Hillwood officials said they would build the park in phases, meaning farmers would still have the ability to work parts of the land that are untouched.

Late into the afternoon, the Wilson County Planning Commission finally came to a vote: a unanimous ‘no’ to rezoning the land for industrial use.

The battle isn’t necessarily over, however. The Wilson County Commission has final authority on this proposal, and Hillwood developers may decide to press on.

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For now, though, it’s a win for farmers.

“We’re not going anywhere. We’re Tuckers Crossroad strong, and we’re going to stand strong,” said Pratt.

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