WILSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Wilson County is one step closer to smaller lot sizes in agriculture areas.

On Friday, the planning commission heard nearly three and a half hours of public comment when it came to their new land use plan, which determines what the next few decades will look like and how land can be developed in the county. 

However, some farmers in Wilson County told News 2 that leaders need to preserve farmland that is already disappearing across the country.

“There's been a study in this state that we're losing agriculture land leaps and bounds daily,” one planning commissioner said during Friday's meeting.

In fact, News 2 recently looked into the loss of farmland across the Volunteer State during a special report called "Disappearing Farms." The loss of farmland is something no community is immune to, including Wilson County.

“Predominantly people want to slow down growth, and I think this is the way to do it with the larger lot sizes,” said Perry Neal, a Wilson County farmer, during Friday’s planning commission meeting.  

Neal took News 2 on his family's farm a couple months ago. He and many of his neighbors that reside in the eastern part of the county are hoping to preserve farmland as new developments move into the area.

“The overall message is we want larger lots in agricultural,” added Michael Swope, a Wilson County resident . 

However, farmers may not get their way.   

On Friday, planning commissioners listened to a resolution on lot sizes for both residential and agriculture land, which is part of the land use plan.

The planning commission voted to approve the resolution with the suggestion that the lot size of A1 be reduced from 80,000 to 60,000 square feet. Four planning commissioners voted no, including Wilson County Mayor Randall Hutto.  

“We hope that the county commissioners decide not to take the planning commission's recommendation, and take the original recommendation from the planning and zoning committee,” Swope said.

Swope spoke during Friday's meeting, asking that agriculture land stay at 80,000 square feet per lot.   

“I’m passionate about this issue because it's about what kind of future we are building for our children," he said.

However, not everyone is on board with larger lots on agriculture land. One resident said she doesn’t need that much land.  

“What is wrong with putting a home on an acre if that's all you want? Y'all are trying to kill commercial growth in this county too, and when you kill commercial, we are screwed as property owners,” she said during Friday’s meeting.  

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/wilson-county-one-step-closer-to-smaller-lot-sizes-in-agriculture-areas/