Business park no ‘industrial park’
Dear Editor:
Your article on residents being concerned about an “industrial park” being built at the Thompson Road exit requires some clarification and comment. Phase 1 of the Morgan Center Business Park will be a “business park” with a campus-like setting and full restrictive covenants in place to protect the integrity of the park and the surrounding neighbors. There will be no offensive odors or emissions allowed in the park and all facilities will have to have their exterior design approved prior to construction. There are existing industrial facilities located in this immediate area and the business park plan complement the existing land use.
Some of the surrounding homes and property are currently located in unincorporated Morgan County. The restrictive covenants and zoning of the surrounding City of Hartselle property give more protection and insight into the future development than if the property had remained unincorporated. For some to say that they are “being kept in the dark about the status of (their) property and house” is not true. Mayor Dwight Tankersley, one of my previous project managers and I have had multiple telephone conversations and personal visits with many landowners since September 2009.
To date, unfortunately we have been unsuccessful in reaching a sales agreement with some of the surrounding property owners that expressed an interest in selling.
One in particular lives on approximately one acre of property that is not essential to the development of Phase 1 of the Morgan Center Business Park. Morgan County and each municipality are contributing a portion of their TVA in-lieu-of-taxes to fund this business park development. I will not recommend to those public investors that we use tax dollars to make property acquisitions and/or other purchases with asking prices that are out-of-line with today’s market values. We are committed to working with the surrounding neighbors to satisfy any concerns, but the fiscal responsibility of tax dollars will always weight heavily into any decision regarding the expenditure of limited funds.
Jeremy Nails
President & CEO,
Morgan County EDA,
Decatur-Morgan Port Authority
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