Despite opposition from residents who said they are being kept in the dark, The Meridian City Council on Friday approved the rerouting of a portion of Sweet Gum Bottom Road, clearing the way for economic development in the area’s industrial park.

Drivers will instead take West Malone Ranch Road, which will be paved, striped and lit, according to James Lloyd, director of operations for the city’s public works department. Work on the road is expected to start in February and be finished in April, with an estimated cost of $150,000. Long term, the city will pave the road with surface asphalt, Lloyd said. 

Sweet Gum Bottom Road will remain open until the improvements are made to West Malone Ranch Road.

The council’s action came at the urging of the Bill Hannah, CEO of East Mississippi Business Development Corporation, who said rerouting the road would make the site more attractive to industry looking to relocate to Lauderdale County.

Hannah said the road splits the site into about 170 acres on each side, so rerouting it would increase the area to about 340 acres. A site that large would be more likely to draw a major company to the area, he said.

“It’s going to be our premier industrial park,” Hannah said of the site, which is owned by the Lauderdale County Economic Development Corporation.

The rerouting was opposed by about two dozen Sweet Gum Bottom Road residents, who said they weren’t adequately informed of any plans for development.

“We’re not trying to stop progress,” said Marie Franklin, one of several community members who addressed the council. “We want progress with the city, but we want to be in on the progress.”

Some residents blamed the city’s planning commission for not keeping them informed, while others worried about the type of industry that could come to the site, possibly bringing foul odors, noise and other environmental issues.

“I understand their concerns,” said council member Kim Houston, who represents Ward 4. “I wouldn’t want to live next to a smokestack or slaughterhouse.”

But Archie McDonnell, chair of the EMBDC, emphasized that any potential development would be “nice, clean, state-of-the-art manufacturing.”

Hannah said the deadline to prepare the land for development is November 2019.

In September, the Lauderdale County Board of Supervisors approved a bid from Barrett Logging, Inc. for timber on a parcel of land on Sweet Gum Bottom Road. The logging company agreed to pay $81,958 for 167 acres of excess timber on the land.

Whitney Downard contributed to this report.