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The commonly cited reason for support among residents in favor was a concern over flooding in the area. They say the developers are the only ones who have offered to help them. Included in the proposal was the installation of a water management system designed to the 100-year flood standard, four times greater than the 25-year flood coverage requirement. Residents and Commissioners repeatedly said the cost would be on the developer, not taxpayers.

鈥淲hen it rains, we flood. Our neighbors flood. It鈥檚 gotten worse and worse over the years, and the water keeps on coming,鈥� resident Sherry Bible said, supporting the rezoning. 鈥淢y husband is 60 years old now. We should be enjoying our lives, not worrying about when the next rain is coming and going to flood us out again. We shouldn鈥檛 have to be spending our time moving our possessions to higher ground, waiting on the water to go down and then doing it all over again.鈥�

However, opponents of the rezoning said their way of life and their community should be preserved and not have warehouses be built near their neighborhoods. Traffic and property values were also cited as reasons for opposing. This mirrored a similar rezoning and industrial park proposal for the Tuckers Crossroads area last year, where residents said the rural charm of their neighborhoods would be lost if it had passed.

鈥淚 truly do sympathize with the people that have the problem with the flooding, I truly do,鈥� Mike Harbor, another resident of Gladeville, said opposing the rezoning. 鈥淏ut for me and my family in the area, this is more a concern for destroying our community. This community was a very quiet community when we moved there 17 years ago. All the warehouses have made that a tremendous difference. Today, we have all kinds of traffic.鈥�

The rezoning request went before the Wilson County Planning Commission, which passed it along to the County Commission with no recommendation. The reason for the no recommendation vote, according to Planning Director Christopher Lawless, is because the necessary votes to either recommend for or against were not reached during the May 16 meeting.

鈥淔irst and foremost, there should be nothing ever sent to this body without recommendation,鈥� said District 13 Commissioner Jeremy Hobbs, who represents the Gladeville area. 鈥淵ou have enough people on that Planning Commission. You鈥檙e putting every commissioner in this room in a bad spot. They wanted on that committee, they got appointed on that committee. They have a job to do, like I have a job to do tonight.鈥�

鈥淪ir, I don鈥檛 have control over that particular aspect, I鈥檓 not a voting member,鈥� Lawless said.

鈥淲ell, we need to get a hold of the chairman,鈥� Hobbs interjected.

鈥淚t鈥檚 an 11-member board. The bylaws of the committee states it has to be a majority of the total board for a positive or negative recommendation regardless,鈥� Lawless continued. 鈥淭hat day, there were nine members present鈥t takes six to get any recommendation forwarded to the County Commission.鈥�

Commissioner Hobbs said that while he believes the project proposed by the developers is a good project, he ultimately represents the citizens of District 13, and the majority of which, according to Hobbs, are against it; therefore he made a motion to deny the rezoning.

Some of the other commissioners gave opinions for and against the rezoning. District 18 Commissioner Lauren Breeze said the development would greatly improve the waterflow on Couchville Pike. She said she sympathized with residents who wish to live in that community, but that continuously recovering from floods over and over again was unsustainable.

鈥淭he narrative from this developer and the supporters of this proposal that it鈥檚 going to 鈥榮top the flooding鈥� is a PR tactic,鈥� Danielle Gordon, a Gladeville resident and an owner of a public relations and marketing firm, said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 part of their campaign to get this passed and 鈥榮ave taxpayer dollars.鈥� The promise to build retention ponds does not solve the flooding issue. We have to remember [that] private developers are not acting out of good will, they are here to profit, not protect our community.鈥�

She said homeowners selling their property to the developers are 鈥渃ashing out鈥� and won鈥檛 have to deal with any repercussions if the flooding problem is solved or not. Other opponents gave similar remarks.

After the vote, First Industrial Realty Trust issued a statement expressing disappointment, but said that it remains committed to Wilson County.