BOONE COUNTY — After months of neighbors pleading with their Boone County commissioners to vote against rezoning farmland, the commissioners made their decision Monday morning. It comes as RL Turner says the location of their current headquarters is something they have outgrown.
The company sought to rezone nearly nine acres of agricultural land it owns to light industrial, but neighbors in the area didn’t want to see the farmland disappear. At the meeting they held signs urging the commissioners to deny the rezone. It wasn't a decision the commissioners made lightly. It does mean RL Turner has to go back to the drawing board.
"It's not going to stop us. I mean, we are going to keep going, we will look to see if there are ways for us to do it where we are at,” Adam Owens, the President and CEO of RL Turner, said. “We will look to see if there are ways to do it other places or if there are better spots to go. Our goal is going to be to work with the neighbors, whether it's these or the next neighbors we talk to."
The company has been in the Boone County community for almost 50 years and is known in the community for its philanthropic work. While neighbors say they don’t have an issue with the company itself, they are happy the county commissioners decided not to approve the request.
"I am somewhat relieved because obviously I would like to see that remain as farm ground,” Nancy Allen, who lives next to the rejected rezone site, said. “I really hate to see development come down that way. Especially after I read the comprehensive plan and what was in that plan."
Not all Boone County residents are on the same page. Many feel this decision wasn’t right, and they say that if Boone County wants to keep strong local businesses in the community, then they need to work with them. RL Turner made several promises to the neighbors that if this rezone was approved, there wouldn’t be more development in the area and that they would respect the area’s agricultural legacy, which is why some residents spoke out against the commissioner's decision.
"I think there was a short-sighted decision made in regard to RL Turner and this property,” Matt Wilson, a Boone County resident who spoke out at the meeting on Monday, said.
The rezone was rejected in a 2-3 vote. A lone commissioner, Donnie Lawson, voted in favor of the rezone.
"I do believe in private property rights... for everyone that is a major thing for me,” Lawson explained during the meeting.
As for the future of the land, some residents said they would like to talk to the company about it and whether they can play a role.
" I intend to get with RL Turner and see if they would like to sell that because the attorney said they might,” Ron Ebert, who lives next to the rejected rezone, said. “So that we can protect that from that standpoint. If it does... it will remain agricultural if they sell it."
RL Turner says they do intend to stay in Boone County if they can find the right place. They hope to find a new site where they can build their new facility.
