Wilson County surveys residents on future growth and development

WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Wilson County is asking for public input as they focus on future growth and how land is developed. This comes while neighbors are advocating against a 1400-acre industrial park that would be built on farmland .

“We’ve grown extraordinarily in the past six years,” said Wilson County Development Services Director, Tom Brashear.

According to Brashear, the county is looking at where new development will go.

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So far, over 1,100 people have taken part in the survey . It’s a questionnaire with about two dozen questions asking for input on future growth from residents.

“How do you rate life in Wilson County? How do you, overall, rate Wilson County’s quality of life?” Brashear said.

One question that has garnered attention is how important is it to preserve farmland?

This comes after dozens of neighbors held a tractor protest and filled a Wilson County planning commission meeting last month regarding a 14-hundred-acre industrial park. The development would be built on farmland near the Interstate 40/Linewood interchange.

“It would be a huge eye sore for Wilson County as opposed to beautiful farmland,” said Houston Neal, a fourth-generation farmer who lives near the open land.

“We have a strong agricultural legacy here in Wilson County that we want to protect,” Brashear said.

Last month, the planning commission voted against the development . However, now the Texas-based company is appealing that decision .

Brashear said this is just one example of the concerns Wilson County residents face as they have no choice but to welcome future growth.

“It’s unlikely that we will not grow so it’s important for people to think about where they would rather see these things and the answer can’t always be somewhere else,” Brashear said.

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Brashear said he hopes the county will have an updated land use plan by late spring, early summer of 2025.

If you’d like to take part in the survey, click here .

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