New plans to build up the Lewisburg area of DeSoto County is causing controversy. The affected area is located off Craft Road and I-269 near Olive Branch.
The planning commission is expected to vote Thursday night on a request by a developer to possibly build hotels and motels there.
This is not about re-zoning property. The property in question is already zoned commercial, with 45 different uses – from a barber shop, to retail stores, to restaurants, and most everything in between.
The list does not include hotels or motels, so the developer is hoping to add that to the list.
“We wanna make sure we maintain the good growth that the county has experienced over the years,” says Bennie Hopkins, the Director of Planning for DeSoto County.
Hopkins breaks down what a “request for an amendment” really means to folks who live and go to school in Lewisburg.
“There are areas in the villages at Hawks Crossing PUD that will allow for commercial usage,” says Hopkins.
The PUD, or “planned unit development,” is already zoned for commercial use. Hopkins gave us a list of potential businesses that could be built in the Lewisburg area. Hotels and motels are not on that list, so a developer hopes to change that, should they decide to build a hotel there.
The request does not mean hotels or motels will be built. But if the request is approved by the planning commission, hotels could pop up in the future.
Hopkins says growth is inevitable. But DeSoto County has high standards when it comes to outsiders moving in.
“The county is blessed to see that kind of growth. That kind of investment,” says Hopkins. “We have great schools, we have good roads. We have great leadership. And that is what draws people down to this county.”
Folks who live in Lewisburg say, no thanks.
“We don’t want change,” says Donnah Turner. She is adamant about keeping Lewisburg – local. “As far as large corporations. No, we do not want that here.”
Lewisburg residents we talked to say they want to keep their community just like it is.
“Country living. It’s supposed to be country down here. It’s turning into a big, it’s crap,” says Ray Duncan.
“We’re called Children of the Corn because we used to go to school in a corn field,” says Lewisburg High Junior Hayden Turner. Turner knows growth is coming eventually, but he’d like to have a choice of what might be built here. “It would be nice to have just like a restaurant like McDonald’s or Sonic or something like that or Chick Fil A.”
“We don’t want hotels motels big chains here in our school district we just don’t.” says Donnah Turner. “We have a right to say what we want and what we don’t that want here.”
The planning commission meeting will take place Thursday night at 6:30 p.m. at the administration building near the Hernando square. The meeting is open to the public.
