Farmers ride tractors through Lebanon to fight proposed development on farmland
The proposed development has sparked widespread concern among locals.
LEBANON, Tenn (WSMV) – The Wilson County Planning Commission is considering a contentious proposal Friday that could change the landscape of Tuckers Crossroads in Wilson County.
If approved, a new industrial park would be built on 1,400 acres of currently agricultural land. Proponents argue it will bring more jobs to the area, but many residents believe the costs outweigh the benefits.
Hundreds of people in Tuckers Crossroads are concerned about the potential rezoning of farmland for light industrial use. They fear the changes it would bring to their rural community.
“We’re afraid of what an industrial park will do,” said Paige Hodges, who lives near the proposed site of the project. “We don’t want semi-trucks around our children.”
Houston Neal, a farmer in Wilson County said he hopes their town stays agricultural for future generations.
“We just feel like it just doesn’t fit well, or the community doesn’t really bring anything positive there,” he said.
The proposal has sparked widespread concern among locals, leading them to protest by signing a petition and driving tractors and trucks from the Wilson County Fairgrounds to the courthouse. They spoke out ahead of the Wilson County Planning Commission meeting, calling on county leaders to preserve their neighborhood’s character by keeping it farmland and residential.
“We have beautiful cows, beautiful farmland,” Hodges said. “Our town is just so sweet, so beautiful, so protected.”
The community hopes their unity will make a difference.
“The community has just really come together — the farming community, but not just the farming community, the residential community out there. People that live out their work in Nashville. It’s a quality of life for them when they can drive by a farm and there’s cows and kids and a hay field, or you drive by and there’s an industrial park with huge warehouses,” said Perry Neal, a full-time farmer in Tuckers Crossroads.
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