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During the Nov. 4 meeting, Ward 1 Councilor Joey Carmack made a motion to amend the Title 14 update to keep the existing warehousing zoning, saying it was to protect the rights of property owners.

During the public comment period, resident Anna Fay Leeman gave numbers for property taxes collected by the city for some warehouses near State Route 109 and Interstate 840. According to her, Central 840 Logistics brought in $121,000, warehouses on Callis Road paid in $59,000, and Prologis paid $284,030. She listed others totaling in $862,485 in property taxes brought into Lebanon.

“So this tells me you don’t cut off the hand that feeds you,� Leeman said. “They’re bringing in a whole lot of tax revenue to this city in property taxes, a whole lot more than a residence is going to ever bring in.�

Other speakers representing developments thanked the council for considering the amendment.

Ward 6 Councilor Phil Morehead supported the amendment to keep the old industrial zoning, but said he would have preferred grandfathering existing warehouses and having the new zoning for future warehouses.

Ward 2 and 3 Councilors Geri Ashley and Camille Burdine expressed disappointment in communication regarding the zoning.

“I am a little bit disappointed in the communication that went externally to the newspapers and the radio and newsletter and various outlets,� Ashley said. “I think that it did not represent the work that everyone put into making the decision.�

Burdine also expanded upon Leeman’s remarks regarding the amount of property taxes that spec warehouses bring in, adding the Starbucks warehouse brought in $63,913 in property taxes so far this year. For 2025, REI paid $58,978.

“Government is supposed to be a process, and that’s what this was. This went on for 10 years and when things take that long, they take a lot of twists and turns along the way. There’s going to be times when there’s agreement, disagreement, committee, study sessions, public work sessions, council work sessions — on and on,� Ward 4 Councilor Chris Crowell said.

Crowell added that councilors should be open to any and all public input and not make up their minds on how to vote until they hear as much information as possible. He said constituents were asking how he intended to vote before the meeting and he told them they’d find out at the meeting.